SPAM- AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHH

[not Cereal]

i just went through my email (which i dont give out much) and deleted 47 spam messages.

 

this left 7 messages that were NOT spam.

 

this ratio of spam is 47:7

 

mostly mp3.com crap, and porn crap "touch me down here" from "amanda"

 

of all things my MOM's email account is full of porn spam, i just talked to her the other day and she asked "why do i keep getting this trashy email with dirty pictures in it?"

 

i personally am getting PISSED AS HELL at this MISUSE of the system.

 

i had to spend a LOT of bucks to get the telemarketers off my back. they used to call nonstop. caller id doesnt work because a lot of peoples phone #'s dont show up so they look like telemarketers.

 

changed phone #, a week later they figured it out.

 

ok, so what finally worked, is this thing where only people who are legitimate callers ring the phone correctly. others the phone rings twice, and i dont answer.

 

this effectively weeds out ALL telemarketers. however, it also weeds out a couple of places i work for some reason.

 

so i had to get an answering machine, just so the weeded out people who-are-not-supposed-to-be-weeded-out can get a hold of me.

 

so for normal phone service, you used to need a phone.

 

now you need a phone, call filter, caller id, and an answering machine. ($$$$).

 

what about for email?

 

this is blatent misuse of these systems and we should not tolerate it.

 

business should not be allowed to solicate through communication systems. period. if a person wants to buy something, then the PERSON should call. not the business. ever.

[Tedster]

AMEN!!!!

 

I'd like to see telemarketers strung up by their gonads, personally.

 

Just for a laugh, go to www.antitelemarketer.com

[ricknbokker]

I'm fortunate in two ways, and I have no idea why.

 

As far as spam, for some reason, I don't get a lot. I've only been online since Feb of last year. Seems like plenty of time for them to find me.

However, I can count on one hand the spam-mails I recieve in a WEEK.

 

Telemarketers?? Oy vey! Thanks for the link, Ted. I'm going to spend quite a bit of time there.

 

I recieve all of my calls from telemarketers between 3 and 6 PM. Don't ask me why. I give them notice to remove my # from their call list, which they are required to do by law.

 

I am now down to one call a day, generated by a computer, that routes the call to a telemarketer when I pick up the phone. There is a 'latency' rate of 4-5 seconds before I get the speil.

I say "Hello?", and if there is no reply within 2-3 seconds, I hang up.

 

I have not spoken to a telemarketer in at least two months.

 

Please don't hate me...

Steve

 

This message has been edited by ricknbokker on 06-17-2001 at 07:53 PM

[Tedster]

Steve said...

 

>>>I am now down to one call a day, generated by a computer, that routes the call to a telemarketer when I pick up the phone. There is a 'latency' rate of 4-5 seconds before I get the speil.

I say "Hello?", and if there is no reply within 2-3 seconds, I hang up.

 

BOY, THAT PISSES ME OFF MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!

 

I've gotten to the point where, I figure if these chumps are going to call me, I've got a right to try to sell them stuff, too. So I've got a sales pitch by the phone. When a telemarketer calls, I reply in my most obnoxious disc jockey voice, "Boy, am I glad you called 'CAUSE I'VE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME FOR YOU!!!"

[ViLo]

Originally posted by Tedster:

Steve said...

 

>>>I am now down to one call a day, generated by a computer, that routes the call to a telemarketer when I pick up the phone. There is a 'latency' rate of 4-5 seconds before I get the speil.

I say "Hello?", and if there is no reply within 2-3 seconds, I hang up.

 

BOY, THAT PISSES ME OFF MORE THAN ANYTHING!!!

 

I've gotten to the point where, I figure if these chumps are going to call me, I've got a right to try to sell them stuff, too. So I've got a sales pitch by the phone. When a telemarketer calls, I reply in my most obnoxious disc jockey voice, "Boy, am I glad you called 'CAUSE I'VE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME FOR YOU!!!"

 

"When a telemarketer calls, I reply in my most obnoxious disc jockey voice, "Boy, am I glad you called 'CAUSE I'VE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME FOR YOU!!!"

 

Now! that's funny and useful, I will try that http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif!

 

Thanks, Tedster

 

ViLo

 

 

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HE'S COMING, MAKE MUSIC, BE HAPPY!

[michael saulnier]

Coaster,

 

I feel your pain, but as a guy who calls people every day who didn't know I was going to call... I think there is a balance between the rights of people to only receive calls they want or expect, (or from people they "already know"), and the ability to professionally use communication mediums for business purposes including developing new business.

 

(I am the owner of a staffing agency for software developers and I call new prospective clients and candidates every day who didn't "expect" my call)...

 

I think if a company acts responsibly they can use these mediums in a way that minimizes the negative impacts.

 

For example: my firm maintains a database of candidates and e-mails of candidates and clients, but we ALWAYS provide an opt-in, opt-out options.

 

If we approach a candidate or client by phone who doesn't want to receive additional calls, we change their status code in our database and don't call them back. If someone wants to receive e-mail from us, they must agree to start, but can opt-out at any time. We try to RESPECT not DISRESPECT our clients and candidates.

 

Because of this, and the fact that we provide a free service to candidates that could positively change their career and life... we have very few people "upset" that we call or e-mail them. In fact most are very willing to listen and talk with us or to reply to information about a job opening we sent them via e-mail.

 

I know most e-mail spam, (especially porn) is offensive to most people, (including me). I know many "telemarketers" aren't providing a product or service many people want or need... and it's a hassle dealing with them. I don't like unsolicited sales pitches or junk e-mails anymore than most people.

 

The question is... how to deal with it. I think advocating the idea that "only people I want to call me should be able to" is a little too extreme.

 

My first advice is to "vote with your wallet". If telemarketing and spamming wasn't effective... there would be no reason to do it. The ONLY reason people keep doing it is that some fractional amount of the people they reach DO buy something or visit xxx.com or whatever.

 

SO... RULE #1... DON'T BUY FROM PEOPLE WHO APPROACH YOU IN A WAY YOU DON'T LIKE.

 

Other than that... in a "free country" or even "market economy" how do you limit the offensive and unwanted communications while allowing other less offensive communications get through?

 

To me it means taking advantage of the "screening" capabilities in e-mail and caller-ID and so on as you said you're doing. I rarely answer my home phone unless I "know" who it is by seeing their name on caller-ID... but when I hear someone leaving a message I want to talk with... you'll find me picking up the phone.

 

Does this have a cost, YES. Could I remove the cost completely... sure, opt out of the system.

 

Unlist or even disconnect your phone, don't have an e-mail account or never post your e-mail address ANYWHERE. Change accounts and numbers if they find you... but I personally ask... is it worth it?

 

Your answer may vary...

 

Anyway, I'm NOT trying to be an apologist for the SPAMMERS of the world. But as someone who LIVES on the phone and the fact that my business relies on interfacing with new people every day... I don't want to "throw the baby out with the bathwater"...

 

(OK, extra-strength flamesuit on... check)

 

guitplayer

 

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http://www.mp3.com/acousticvoodoo

 

Guitar Forum CD Info

http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000537.html

 

This message has been edited by guitplayer on 06-17-2001 at 04:00 PM

[Steve LeBlanc]

My home phone is very private, I only want to hear from Family and close friends on my home phone. Anyone I don't know is an intruder and needs to be dealt with accordingly.

 

I've gotten to the point where, I figure if these chumps are going to call me, I've got a

right to try to sell them stuff, too. So I've got a sales pitch by the phone. When a

telemarketer calls, I reply in my most obnoxious disc jockey voice, "Boy, am I glad you

called 'CAUSE I'VE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME FOR YOU!!!"

 

You're a better man than me...if it's a female voice I've been known to say "So what ya wearin?" and see how far we get...I actually had a 30 minute conversation with one nice lady, none of it had to do with what she was initially trying to sell and we were both VERY satisfied before hanging up http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif.

 

Otherwise it's a very stern NO NOT INTERESTED and immediate hang-up.

[ha ha faa_Q]

Check out spamcop.net. This site finds out where the emails originate from and sends abuse reports to their respective ISPs.

 

As for telemarketers, I signed up through BellSouth, for $5.00 a year, so that I cannot be approached by telemarketers. Anyone who tries to call to sell me something is subject to a $500 fine.

 

Jimmy

[Tedster]

Yeah, but why should *I PAY* to not be bothered by those dickweeds? The State of Missouri tried to do something similar but those asswads found some loophole. FRICKIN' PARASITES!!!

[Tedster]

Guit said...

 

>>>Other than that... in a "free country" or even "market economy" how do you limit the offensive and unwanted communications while allowing other less offensive communications get through?

 

To me, unexpected but welcome calls are completely different from telemarketing. Telemarketing is a cold contact I'm-gonna-ring-you-while-you're-taking-a-shit-to-try-to-sell-you-something call. They have NO RIGHT whatsoever to be invading my space...I don't care if the law says they can. They're worse than door-to-door salesmen from times gone by, because they're more prevalent.

 

>>>To me it means taking advantage of the "screening" capabilities in e-mail and caller-ID and so on as you said you're doing. I rarely answer my home phone unless I "know" who it is by seeing their name on caller-ID... but when I hear someone leaving a message I want to talk with... you'll find me picking up the phone.

 

Problem with that...example...sales calls come up "UNKNOWN". My wife ignores them. One time the phone rang, came up "UNKNOWN". My wife wasn't going to answer it. I did, on impulse. Turns out it was my kids calling from the pool needing a ride home. I work for the government. My calls from work show up "UNKNOWN". Thanks to those fucking telemarketers, I've got to wait for the answering machine to come on before my wife will pick up the phone. And those computer fucking calls are the WORST!!!!

 

>>>Does this have a cost, YES. Could I remove the cost completely... sure, opt out of the system.

 

Make the fucking telemarketers pay it. They cost everyone in the long run.

 

Sorry if I sound so negative.

 

Oh, and Steve...attaboy!

[Rod S]

As far as phones, I don't pick up my home phone. Ever. All my friends & family have my cell phone #, and thankfully I don't get telemarketers there. My friends know this and don't even bother calling my home phone. My cell phone is always on and has a clear signal in my apt.

 

Oh, and when I used to answer the phone, I've played the 'what are you wearing' trick a few times http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

 

I use hotmail, and most of the spam gets routed to the bulk email folder, which i just delete every 2 days. The spam that does get to my main inbox usually fit into three categories

1. porn

2. home loans

3. get out debt

4. loose weight fast!

 

So I've set filters to route messages to a 'junk' folder, which I take a quick look every week of so, and usually wipe it out completely. Not a perfect solution, but this took me only a few minutes to setup. Chasing after people is useless. They'll get another address and send you the same crap the next day. (has happened to me)

 

Rod

[kudyba]

Originally posted by coaster:

what about for email?

 

this is blatent misuse of these systems and we should not tolerate it.

 

Siplest answer is filters. Most of the major web email systems like Hot Mayil and Yahoo Mail have them as do other clients like Eudora (which IMHO seems to have the post powerful filtering abilities).

 

Here's some hints from the www.selfpromotion.com web site:

 

Here are some handy filters that you can use to catch most typical spams:

 

First, since a lot of spammers are bombastically proclaiming that their email is sent pursuant to a new US federal law, a filter that marks any email containing the strings "SECTION 301" or "S.1618" works quite well.

 

Similarly, the following strings are often found in spam and rarely in legitimate email:

A subject line starting with "AD:", "ADV:" or containing "ADVERTISMENT" or "for free"

The strings "$$$" and "$MONEY$"

The phrases "do not reply by", "believe it or not", "to order by phone", "to be removed", "?subject=remove", "email removal", "this is an important message", "received by mistake", "advertisement", "selected to receive", "direct email", "automatically been removed", "home business", "send check", "sending a check", "incredible details", "this system", and "from this mailing list"

And possibly most important, the phrases "one time mailing", "one-time mailing", "one time solicitation" and "one-time solicitation"!

 

By the way, don't include a filter for the string "!!!". While this appears in almost all spams, it also appears in a lot of real emails.

[Chip McDonald]

Filters:

 

My filter list has grown to about 250+ entries.... For awhile I was staying on top of the spam. Recently, they've become more clever to the point that I've made my filters probably too strong.

 

So I've come up with a two-tiered scheme. In addition to my normal filters, I've created a new mailbox called "Chip". I've made a filter for the word "Chip" in the body of messages, since most spam either ignores your name or uses your email address in the header only. I'm tweaking it for some more specific instances, but that's made email much more tolerable as of late. It was almost to the point of uselessness for me - I get about 100 pieces of email a day of which only 10 might be from humans I know (or want to know).

 

I also don't have a phone exactly right now. Again - maybe 10 phone calls a day that were spam.

 

The way to help fight that is to say to the telemarketer "oh, I'm interested... but hold on a moment..."

 

Then you put the phone down, and go about your business. This way, they may have wasted *some* of your time, but you'll ultimately waste *more* of *their* time.

 

 

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New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

 

This message has been edited by Chip McDonald on 06-17-2001 at 06:20 PM

[ricknbokker]

Here another thing you can try.

 

A freind of mind turned me on to a site w/a download called

www.adsubtract.com

 

They have 3 versions available, the most expensive costing $29.95.

 

He downloaded a free version.

The program blocks banner ads and cookies. On the free version, you can accept cookies from up to 5 sources. (like this one!)

On the 'pro' version, it will allow you to recieve cookies from ANY sight you specify.

 

After the download, he surfed the net for about a half hour. When he was done, he 'asked' the program it's status.

It had blocked over 250 ads, and blocked over 45 cookies!!!! he said it also sped up his download speed big time.

 

Today is Father's Day. As a treat to myself, I am downloading the software.

 

I've put it off long enough.

Thanks for the reminder....

Steve

 

This message has been edited by ricknbokker on 06-17-2001 at 07:11 PM

 

This message has been edited by ricknbokker on 06-17-2001 at 07:57 PM

[BP3]

I can accept junk mail in my mail box. I don't pay a monthly fee for my mailbox.

 

I won't accept spam in email or telemarketing form. Our ineffective government has no balls to pass laws making it fully illegal to distribute unsolicited communications to phones or paid email services. As services like Hotmail are free, one should expect some spam in that type of email account. It's up to us to 'spam' our congressmen, senators, etc. I suggest that we each get our politicians email addresses and forward ALL spam to each of them. Maybe that'll get their attention.

 

http://www.uscongress.com

[ricknbokker]

Yo Tinder!!! Excellent idea.

 

I bookmarked your link, cuase I'm pissed of about a MESS of stuff!!!

 

I always vote, so they best hear me out, dammit!!!!

 

Steve

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by ricknbokker:

They have 3 versions available, the most expensive costing $29.95.

 

There's a free program called "Proximotron" that does the same thing for free. In fact, I think it's time I tried it again - I temporaily disconnected because I had a number of sites that needed cookies, but I think you can allow for that if you bother...

 

 

 

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New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[dansouth]

Launcelot: Isn't there a SPAM-AAAARRRRRRRGHHHHH in France?

Arthur: No, that's Camarrrrrrgh.

 

This is a big problem. I had a hotmail account that got totally flooded with spam. Most message have links that say, "click here to get off our list," but the links rarely worked. And the mail id's are machine generated, so they're different every time. A lot of it comes from overseas spammers who apparently don't have to follow U.S. regulations.

 

Yahoo has been a little better at screening out this stuff, but the spam monster is gaining steam. I just delete a ton of messages every time I retrieve my mail.

 

Marketing is one of the things that keeps sites like this one free, but abuse is rampant. Hopefully the good-for-nothings in Washington can take some action on this when they're not too busy destroying Alaska.