email spam

[Borderliner]

in usa advertisers are supposed to include an unsubscribe link and for too long I simply deleted spam mail not bothering with unsubscribing.

Then started unsubscribing everyday for over 3 wks. sometimes 4-5 times a day for the same advert. damn porn sites. guess what happened?

some adverts did indeed unsubscribe but most it seems like simply had no effect. so reverted back to deleting most spam and selecting a few to do a unsubscribe.

getting frustrated dealing with it after all we are supposed to have some control or recourse over this damn spam.

so look forward to reading how you guys deal with it

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

In the local newspaper there were directions on how to change settings on the common browsers so you don't get "targeted ads" after a web search on some product and the next day all the ads show up. Guess what? It didn't work. I used a browser that is not supposed to sell your web searches to advertisers. That too didn't work. Some of the spam I get goes away after I unsubscribe, and some doesn't. Like you I have to delete about 15 times a day. If I let it slide for a couple days all the good email gets lost in the clutter. What can I do?

 

[Borderliner]

what to do is the question. find some authority to report them to when they won't unsubscribe is all I got. feeling somewhat helpless. what browser do you use?

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

Mostly I use Chrome or Mozilla. Internet Explorer is slower but I used to use it in the past. IE has more features with it so I get to look at ads better. All the spam and especially targeted ads make me crazy. I made the mistake of doing a membership in a web site I believed in and they sold my name to a dozen others. The others had contests for free give away stuff. I didn't realize entering a contest gave them permission to spam. Me bad.

 

[Borderliner]

Bombaycat interesting the browsers you use. I use mozilla firefox palemoon with request policy as an add on. it blocks cross referrals thus no ads.

 

[troutman]

Probably just safer to delete than hit the unsubscribe button.

Hitting the unsubscribe button reveals that they found a valid email to spam.

Or just reply back with garbage of your own with tons of pics of stupid stuff.

 

[Betterhaff]

Probably just safer to delete than hit the unsubscribe button.

Hitting the unsubscribe button reveals that they found a valid email to spam.

Or sell. Somebody once told me to not unsubscribe from spam on both email and fax. It validates your address or fax number and then the spammers use it for other spam messages or sell it to other spammers.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Legitimate solicitation emails are required to have an 'unsubscribe' link and they are required to act upon your request.

That's awesome if you're dealing with someone who plays by the rules. Like WalMart or Target. Unsubscribe from their emails and you will get just that.... unsubscribed.

HOWEVER.. LMAO most of these spammers do not play by the rules. Go figure. LMAO

So, when you click the 'unsubscribe' link of a spammer's email, all you have really done is to confirm that yours is a valid and active email address. This puts your email address RIGHT ON TOP of the email lists you buy if you're a spammer.

Email lists are sold based upon guaranteed delivery. You can buy a list of 100,000 email addresses from $10 to $100. And, it based upon deliver ability. Once you click 'unsubscribe' your email addy is instantly placed into that category of 'valid' email addresses.

So, in short, click 'unsubscribe' and you're get twice as many spams in the near future.

There's no real way to stop them so what I do is I have more than one email address.

The email addy that I use for banking and bill paying NEVER gets used anywhere else. I use one addy for forums and such. Another for shopping.

So, yes, I always have one email addy that is full of spam and bullshit but I also know that there is NO IMPORTANT emails in that account. So, I just ignore most of it unless I am looking for something special like a reply from joining a forum or, whatever.

Like most things in life... they are unavoidable but you can do things to limit the discomfort. LOL

Good luck.

Also, mail.com is a very good place to get a quick email addy. Google, and Hotmail and guaranteed long term.

 

[moose eater]

I use standard IE, with a fairly stout security system, don't visit that many sites other than for political research/reading, limited on-line shopping, or grow info, and receive nearly zero real spam.

Unfortunately, many of the political orgs that I sign e-petitions for are interconnected (many of them engaged in systematic gathering of e-mail addresses via petitions, for later organizing and fund-raising efforts), thus signing one petition gets your address on the radar for 5 or more other kindred groups.

That's the only spam I typically receive; e-mails from 6 or more orgs, all pursuing the same/similar agenda.

On any given day, I receive between 50 and 100+ e-petitions.

My method of sorting and deleting them is to first read the subject line. If the subject line is an attempt to provide minimal specific information, while using a gut-grabbing by-line that is clearly aimed at a psychological ploy, attempting to bait curiosity, then I delete it. If they can't be straight up from the word "go" with what they're doing or pursuing, then fuck 'em.

Every now and then I try to 'thin the herd,' by unsubscribing, and the frequency of spam decreases after a bit (it takes them a little while to get you out of their system). But as soon as I sign another e-petition, it's almost guaranteed that a few others will get the message from the one that I'm willing to support or receive news of their efforts again.

These days I delete 85% or more without even opening them, based on shallow intentions revealed in the subject lines.

Other than that, I get no spam..

 

[Borderliner]

thanks to all who replied. sounds like may have dug myself deeper in by hitting unsubscribe

 

[gaiusmarius]

also worth considering that a sneaky mofo hacker would put the malicious link under the unsubscribe button. you are better off not clicking anything on a spam mail, most email providers have decent filtering abilities so your spam goes directly to the spam folder, i don't even open those messages unless as was said i'm expecting a forum registration email or some such. just mark as spam if they and in your infolder.

as for a good email addy, i can recommend protonmail.com its end to end encrypted and your emails don't travel the net both sender and receiver are only accessing it on their servers. they allow you to create an account with nothing more then a user name and password. they were created so the folks working at the CERN project in Switz could communicate securely about their research. now it's available for use by the public too.

 

[Mikell]

Ringo and gauis have it.

Multiple accounts. Mail.com is great for general (spam) and personal, it takes seconds to set up a new account and the app isn't shit. Proton is good for private.