Friday, August 5, 2011

The Exploding Spam Folder

During the last couple of weeks, I have received an inordinate amount of emails telling me that I've won contests; that a long-lost relative with millions of dollars (in Africa--if that isn't an oxymoron, what is?) has died and left it to me!  That I have won the British Lottery!  That a dear friend was held-up at knife point in London and now has no money for a ticket to get home.  That I can get all the drugs I want for pennies (most especially those that grow the male member).

Hold everything!

If I didn't go into my spam folder at least five times a day, my computer would explode and there'd be emails stuck to the walls, the ceiling and the floor.

Apparently there are no end to the scammers out there.  (And the pirates stealing my books.  I'm sure my editor gets bombarded with emails from all his authors just about every day telling him of the newest rip offs.  We learn about these illegal copies via Google alerts.)

There have always been nasty, evil people out there, but the Internet lets them steal and scam with relative anonymity. And how many people fall for this crap?
I guess I have no point other than: STOP IT, PEOPLE.

And worst of all, real emails that I WANT to read get trapped in the Spam Folder.  My Williards from Susan Branch.  Emails telling me I have comments from this very blog.  Fan mail. Emails from my bank. And on and on and on. (Now you know why I check my Spam Folder so often.)  When people sign up for my newsletter, the confirmation note to them ends up in THEIR Spam Filters and without opening it, they won't get my newsletters.  (Next one slated for September.)

How tired are you of the spammers?
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3 comments:

  1. VERY tired of it! I actually got a laugh from the one I got about the dead relative in Africa (in my FB messages, actually) - as if any of MY relatives have money!! Also, I've gotten most of the other SPAM you mentioned at one time or another. Plus, I've received messages in my Inbox - supposedly from my friends - that are obviously not from them (their accounts/address books were "hacked"). Mine got so bad, I actually ended up having to create a new account, which was a major pain. However, I realize that's not really an option for you because your email address would be so public. So you definitely have my sympathy on this. It's a shame you have to waste so much of your time on these bozos.

    Before I retired, I was a computer security administrator. I was responsible for keeping around 500 computers clean and secure (which is why I retired). No matter how careful you are (& I'm very careful), you can't avoid this type of thing, so at least you are in good company.

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  2. Now you know why -- every time my husband & I drive by our National Guard Armory -- he sighs, grumbles, and casts longing eyes at the two TANKS they have guarding the front entrance! Given the LEAST opportunity, I'm sure he'd be driving one, scouting for idiot drivers and the spammers that clog his email accounts. (Would be rather satisfying, wouldn't it?)

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  3. I finally had to get a new user name which is very long, but apparently the length of it serves one purpose - I get very few spams! Of course now that I've said it, I'll get tons. Oh that I really did have a rich relative in Nigeria.

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