"unsubscribing" from spam emails... Good idea or not...

[Neil]

The amount of spam I'm receiving has really increased recently... I get about 40-50 spam emails a day now :(

So, is actually downloading them and taking their "unsubscribe" options a good idea? Or are you just telling them they have a genuine email address to send things to?

[Eyebiter]

Your just telling them it's a valid email account.

[Cody]

i get like 2 a week, new email address maybe?

[Andy]

The amount of spam I'm receiving has really increased recently... I get about 40-50 spam emails a day now :(

So, is actually downloading them and taking their "unsubscribe" options a good idea? Or are you just telling them they have a genuine email address to send things to?
i can send you a Gmail invite if you want boss.

[Cody]

I use gmail!!

[AssassinFromHell]

The amount of spam I'm receiving has really increased recently... I get about 40-50 spam emails a day now :(

So, is actually downloading them and taking their "unsubscribe" options a good idea? Or are you just telling them they have a genuine email address to send things to?

Spam uses a different form of the english language. And in that language, "unsubscribe" means "more".

So that's why you get gmail, the next step in Google's sequential internet domination plot. :D

[Cody]

think investing in them is still a good idea?

[HLS]

The amount of spam I'm receiving has really increased recently... I get about 40-50 spam emails a day now :(

So, is actually downloading them and taking their "unsubscribe" options a good idea? Or are you just telling them they have a genuine email address to send things to?

Actully, it can make it worse. When you unsuscribe you confirm the email is real and often get more spam. It is a trick I read that spammers use. Good luck with getting rid of it.

[MinionZombie]

I never try those unsubscribe things. I just denote it as spam and send it off to my email provider to deal with. I've used up all my filters as well, which get rid of a lot of spam, so it's nowhere near as bad as it was for a while back there. No doubt if you click those unsubscribe things it does what you say - show them the account is active and most likely sign you up to 10 times more spam if you do actually get unsubscribed from that one particular spam.

Something I hate that I get are Odeon cinema emails. A friend at uni worked there and she (without asking us) signed us all up to these f*cking Odeon cinema emails. You click the button to be taken off their list, but it doesn't work, just a dead website/error page ... great. It's only in an account I rarely use or even check, but still, it's damn annoying, mostly for the fact she signed us up without asking first - that kinda thing is just rude. But hardly surprising from a girl who panicked because her 70gig hard-drive was completely full ... then I emptied her recycle bin and the problem was solved. :rockbrow:

Best thing you can do is set up filters for the most frequent spams, mark as spam any others that come in and basically wait it out. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but if you don't react (bar deleting/reporting) to the spam then maybe the bot or basment nerd will give up after a while?

Or, it'll have to be getting a new account for your main bulk of emailing to trusted websites and associates, leaving the other one as the "whatever" pile.

[Neil]

Problem is we're talking mostly about my email address here at HPotD. I could of course change it, but that would mean anyone who uses it would hit a brick wall after I change to a new one, and close the old one down :(

[p2501]

what eyebiter said.

years ago wired had an article on this. the jist from what i remember is. legitimate sites like amazon, or ebay will pull you from their promotions lists. and you should see a gradual reduction in those mailings.

but companies offering to "refinance your penis extentsion", or "setting up a home base viagra sales business". all your doing it routing a ping back tot heir auto mailer indicating that your address is a bonefied account.

[MinionZombie]

Zactly, so basically you just have to ignore them and then just wait it out. I've noticed this does work from time to time, you get waves of certain emails coming in and then after just not responding to them in any way, shape or form (bar pressing the "spam" button) then I noticed the new influx died off after a couple of weeks or a month.

Like all annoying pricks, spam will either go away or annoy you less if you pay not attention to it. :rockbrow: Bring on the anti-spam legislation I say, nail those basement teenagers to the wall!

[Tied2thetracks]

Is there a spam spike going on? for about the last 3 weeks my hotmail account has been getting 3 spam letters a day.Its never been an issue in the past. That is the account I use here, I wonder if Neils problem and mine are related.

[AssassinFromHell]

Is there a spam spike going on? for about the last 3 weeks my hotmail account has been getting 3 spam letters a day.Its never been an issue in the past. That is the account I use here, I wonder if Neils problem and mine are related.

Just three a day? On gmail, I get three an hour. But spam filters on gmail are awesome. :D

[bassman]

"What do you mean you don't like Spam???"

[p2501]

http://www.spamterminator.it/images/MontySpam5.jpg

[radiokill]

"...don't knock it. It has its own key"

I get like two spams a week after I unsubscribed to like twenty I was getting every day. Now the only ones I get are from people who cannot speak english but make some crazy attempts to translate it. I'll post one here next time I get one. They're hilarious.:)

edit:I failed to mention the ones I unsubscribe from were telling me I'd one a free trip for two or a car....anyway, I "won" like $100,000 worth of stuff everyday.