technical minds only
 

whenever i get spam, on the subject line (probebly also in the text. i don't open...) there are strings of meaningless letters.

why are they there? what are they for?

thanks!

its called "WORDS" - its how humans communicate in writing

Site specific examples. Show us what you're talking about.

SpaceAce

You mean like:

"Get your penis pill now xycdad"?

are you serious?

they are there to try to by-pass spam filters

makes each email unique

you are so smart and so funny. :321GFY

exactly. thanks. what's it for?

thanks. sounds reasonable, only most spam filters are designed to also intercept long meaningless strings... so can it be something else???

Random letters are generated on each subject line to defeat spam filtering mechanisms looking for message redundancy.

here is a real example:

"Ever notice how things change as you get older qaz xoeaafqz ramk"

thanks...

don't they also look inside the message? also, aren't they using filters that block long meaningless strings?

I would think that the good software would be allowed to look at the content, but then again, how many people trust 3rd party tools to trust their content. (And that goes without saying.)

The best way to fight spam is to not become a part of its list. If you don't know how to do that, there are a few pointers (others can add on)

a) create a new e-mail alias which you use;
b) don't give that alias out on sites for which you sign-up;
c) don't give it to people that add it to their address books;
d) don't let your Web browser house it
e) ....