Is it just me or has the amount of spam increased drastically?

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A few random notes in a day I'm used to. But I check my e-mail this morning and all but about two or three messages were nothing but invitations for financial betterment, questions regarding whether I wanted to see a horse in sexual congress with someone or assurances that after the reconstructive surgery I would never feel inadequate again.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

It's just you.....

― smee (smee), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

This begs the question: DID you want to see a horse in sexual congress with someone? (Or sexual court, for that matter?)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Hotmail = 15-20 spam messages a day, been getting loads from @aol.com accounts :(

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

I can't say that's high on my list of things to see, Dan.

sexual court

The newest reality show!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

COPY ANY DVD TO CD!

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The Sexual States of America is ruled by three wings of sexual government; sexual congress, sexual court and the sexual executives.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I get 50 a day to my old address. None to this one though.

― Graham (graham), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

today: click here to see my and my girlfriend naked

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I've given up on hotmail cause the spam is too much. 50 a day easily. Spam on my private account goes in waves, depending on what idiot has CC:d me in with 100 other people lately... grr...

Had a rash about a month ago of my private account getting really random stuff. Not sexual, just 20 or 30 copies of the same "bizniz op" mail. F*ck OFF!

― KATE, Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

sexual executives

How did you miss the obvious here, Dan? SEXECUTIVES. Jeez. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

'Alex' says 'Feel better, lose weight, signs of aging'

i wish Alex wasnt just a spambot so i could reply to him and point out his grammatical ills...and ask if he fancies a pint

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Hello !
How can the regular guy really get 1 million visitors on his web site
without spending a dime in advertisement?

I have to get this off my chest before I explode.

unfortunately i never do find out if he got it off his chest in time

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

the e-mail does not end with 'KABOOOM!'

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually I read somewhere that spam has grown to constitute a much much larger portion of web traffic over the past years -- from something like 30% of all mail traffic to something like 70%!

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't get any spam until about three years ago and now I receive about 20-40 spam emails a day. It dates back, I think, to my giving out my email to some media group when I was working at college radio.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I get wayyyy too much. I'd love it if if these porn sites started telemarketing...

"Hello, Miccio Residence?"

"YOU WANT HOT ANAL ACTION? NUDE BRITNEY PICS!"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:39 (twenty-two years ago)

There would be a law then, I'll tell ya.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

COPY ANY DVD TO CD!
I get this 3 or 4 times a day at my home address. I used to get "ULTIMATE HGH" spam 10 or so times a day at work, as well as the Nigerian funds transfer thing at both. Now I'm getting spam from nice Russian girls a few times a day at work. In any case, yes, way too much spam for my liking. And all of it has that bullshit "You or a friend submitted your email address to receive this information" disclaimer on it. I really wouldn't mind if they passed laws and cracked down on this sort of thing, because it really is total bullshit to be receiving this much unsolicited crap all of the time.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate those spam's that include in the subject line such innocuous statements as "Hi" or "What are you doing tonight?" or "Remember this?"--99 times out of 100 I recognize the spam immediately but sometimes it trips me up.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Virginia was prompted to pass a law trying to restrict UCE when its legislators' official e-mail addresses were hit by a tsunami of porn spam. (Apparently the spambots had locked onto the string "leg" in the addresses.)

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:46 (twenty-two years ago)

It seems like I've been getting more spam too, and I use y@hoo.

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I get so much at my old AOL account (it's off my sister's so I don't pay for it) cuz I use it for all the stuff where you have to fill in an email address. Today, however, I received this... which I really don't know what to make of.

Subj: pittbucks
Date: 2/12/2003 3:09:29 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: mwolf@juno.com ()
To: chevyray70@aol.com, griffithb@aol.com, chevyrayn@aol.com, spectatorr@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Hello,

I am offering $50,000 2003 US dollars for the below equipment:

1. The mind warper generation 4 Dimensional Warp Generator # 52 4350a series wrist watch with z60 or better memory adapter. Or if in stock the AMD Dimensional Warp Generator module containing the GRC79 induction motor, four I80200 warp stabilizers, 256GB of SRAM, and two Analog Devices isolinear modules, This unit also has a menu driven GUI accessible on the front panel XID display. Or perhaps you have some reliable all in 1 units available?

2. The special 23200 or Acme 5X24 series time transducing capacitor with built in temporal displacement. I need this with complete jumper/auxiliary system

3. An age stopping finger ring if available.

VERY IMPORTANT: All equipment must be original in sealed closed casing of it's time. No old imitation electronic parts or materials are accepted. Please send photos of the above items so I can verify you have them available.

I will offer you $50,000 2003 US funds total for everything with the ring if you can teleport to me in the Boston area within the next 48 earth hours to conduct business in person.

Business in person is greatly preferred! If business cannot be conducted in person, I will send you a deposit only after proof you have them available, and then the remaining funds upon delivery of the time pieces.
Please also reply if you can recommend a reliable supplier in the Boston area.

Send a (SEPARATE) email to me at:
colt3113@aol.com
Thanks
PRGyFoMNUmSchevyray70JAuMgfaAWEhpT

Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(mwolf@juno.com) on Wednesday, February 12, 2003 at 00:09:28
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

UoOCjEmPyb33048: deBuSGo nIOkTrs

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I usually get these at least twice a week:

DVD copying
Honey, please stop snoring (wtf?)
horny bored hosuewife with MEGA picture gallery
something called 'auctionteacher'
inkjet cartridges for sale
virus protection
weight loss
Hey would you like a larger penis?

― Dave B (daveb), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I only get like 2 spam a week maybe!

But PHONE SPAM? I GET ONE A FUCKING DAY AVERAGE. And of course the autodialers start up before my message ends, so I only get the end of whatever fantastic opportunity it is.

(MN's Atty Gen scored big points by creating this do-not-call list [which I'm not on whoops] and I have a "fuck-off" screen on my line, too. So now they're spamming phonemailboxes, and I'm SURE that fucking Qwest [is there an SEC nabob I can fellate to put this fucking company in the GROUND, plz?] is in collusion.)

― g.cannon (gcannon), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I get about one spam voice mail a day at home; they must think I'm a housewife or something.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I keep getting this great one where a lonely 22-year-old who's just moved to town writes to say she saw my profile on the internet and was wondering if I'd like to go out some time.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I must admit, it's relatively well done. It took me a second the first time. Then I realized that I do not have a "profile on the internet."

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:08 (twenty-two years ago)

NYer comic that actually made me laugh:

Guy writing an email: "Dear Sir, thank you for your concern, but at present I am quite happy with the size of my penis."

― g.cannon (gcannon), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I just got a spam with my favorite subject heading: "Blossom up ladies"!

Nabisco, isn't your profile here?

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

SPAM is totally out of control, and yes, I have noticed a spike in the last 6 months. My Yahoo address gets almost 100 a day -- and I've never given that address to anybody!

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 18:17 (twenty-two years ago)

'I LOVE YOU AND IDON'T WANT YOU TO DIE' is still my favourite subject header. I think it was about weight loss powder.

I gave up on hotmail too, what with the extra spam and the reduced mailbox size it was was unworkable. Just use it for anything that requires an email address who I can't imagine wanting to hear from.

My new webmail address suits me fine. Because I set it up after ILX started witholding email address from non-logged in members (and thus cocks harvesting addresses) it has had not been troubled with a single piece of spam.

It annoys me when people refuse to give any valid email address ever on ILE. How long does it take to set up a webmail account?

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 23:00 (twenty-two years ago)

ILU&DWYTD is also my favorite, and a good thing to drop in the middle of an otherwise normal AIM conversation. But I've received it as the subject header for any number of different spam.

― Chris P (Chris P), Wednesday, 12 February 2003 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

On my personal email I get virtually no spam, cos I hardly give it out to anyone. The only spam I've been getting lately is from people selling lists of email addresses. This is disturbing because I must be on one of their lists if they're writing to me, and so these people who spam me must be spamming lots of other people who will eventually also spam me.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Thursday, 13 February 2003 00:17 (twenty-two years ago)

The latest:
"FROM: DR. Robert Tony
(AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT)
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPT.
DEVCOM MERCHANT BANK, LAGOS NIGERIA.
ATTN:
I am Dr. Robert Tony, the Director, in charge of the
auditing and accounting section of the above named bank.
I have decided to contact
you on a business transaction that requires utmost confidentiality,
trust and transparency, where both of us have a lot to benefit. During
my investigation and auditing in the bank,
my department came across a huge sum of money
belonging to a deceased person, a foreigner
who died on November 1999 in a plane crash. This
fund has been dormant in his account with the bank
without any claim to this fund in our custody, either
from his family or relation.
Personally, I kept this information secret
so as to enable the whole plans
and idea become profitable and successful during the time
of execution. The said amount is US$7m (seven
million United States dollars). As it might interest you
to know, I got your contact through international
business enquiry at the chamber of commerce, and industry in my search
for a trust worthy business partner that can handle a business of this
magnitude Meanwhile all
arrangement to put claim to this fund in your name as the bona
fide next of kin to the deceased, and get the required
approval to transfer this money to a foreign account,
have been put in place. While the next line of action
to conclude this transaction in the next 10 working days,
Will be relayed to you as soon as you indicate your interest in this
transaction.
I must also inform you that
this transaction is 100% risk free. And Upon the completion
of this transaction, you will be entitled
to 25% of the total sum as gratification, for your role and assistance,
while 5%
is set aside to take care of any expenses that may
arise during the time of the transfer of this fund (Example: Telephone
bills, stationeries and etc).And the remaining 70% will be for me.
Please, you have been advised to keep this as a top secret since I
am still in service and intend to retire
after I conclude this project. My alternate e-mail add is
tonyrobrt@dr.com
I will be monitoring the whole situation here in the bank until
you confirm the money in your account. Then, immediately, I shall
come down to your country for subsequent sharing of
the fund according to percentages previously indicated
and further investment( Real estate business and brokerages).All other
necessary information will be sent to you when I hear
from you.
I await your prompt reply.
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Robert Tony"

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 18 February 2003 19:27 (twenty-two years ago)

I've started getting a lot lately with the "This is the result of your feedback form" bit at the bottom. I've worked out, I think, that they're being sent through websites that have poorly-secured web-to-email forms on. I've noticed, at work, people probing our servers looking for a particular CGI script which is commonly used for feedback pages, and which is very insecure if installed with the default setup; I assume they're looking for something else they can spam through.

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 18 February 2003 19:39 (twenty-two years ago)

For those with Hotmail accts, do you have the divert option set in Custom Filters? If not,

Tell it to send to Trash messages that contain: "credit” “ADV” “debt” “diploma” (or anything that seems to pop up in your acct with any regularity. Those were my main ones, and I only get a cpl of Spam msgs a day as opposed to 30-40)

― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 08:32 (twenty-two years ago)

i get about 15-20 a day that go straight into my yahoo spam folder, but that only stops about half of them, grr...

i've definately seen a rise in the last six months though.

― CarsmileSteve (CarsmileSteve), Wednesday, 19 February 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

http://www.theonion.com/onion3920/wdyt_3920.html

BRILLIANT!

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Man, does the Nigerian minister joke EVER get unfunny?

― Ally (mlescaut), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The new issue of 2600 has an example of the Nigerian spam except that instead of being from a Nigerian, it's from GW Bush. Supposedly collected in real life and everything.

Also I just got a spam with this subject line:
I say this about erection dysfunction. wahr

wahr indeed.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 28 May 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

i used to get no spam
now i get clear channel
some other stuff
and the other day
my first notice for
viagra

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 29 May 2003 02:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Some recent classic subject headers:

Bow-legged lesbians swimming in the ocean!

and my favourite

Suck my clit bitch! (nudity)

― slutsky (slutsky), Friday, 30 May 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm still afraid of the one that said "CURTIS we want your SKIN!!!!!"

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Friday, 30 May 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

zombie spam!

― slutsky (slutsky), Friday, 30 May 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I say to that: wahr.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 30 May 2003 19:17 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

its not just you

― Tad (llamasfur), Saturday, 16 August 2003 22:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I'm getting more and more of it. They're more imaginative in subject lines and the like too, so it's harder to filter, I guess.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 16 August 2003 22:35 (twenty-two years ago)

nine months pass...

Now the subject lines are just dull one word affairs and they're always phrased as letters with salutations like "Dopester," and "Quinn@,"

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 3 June 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

Half of today's 200 spam mails are just the subject ":o)" and then "hi" in a different language each time. No URL, no product, no stock tips, no recipient-logging image. I think the From addresses are just real people's harvested and faked addresses too so they're not even hoping for me to reply. Just there to fuck with spam traps?

Why must spammers seem to rejoice so much in rendering email completely unusable? If everyone gives up on email - and I nearly have outside work, as it seems has everyone who used to mail me - they've (briefly) lost a market and have to work harder on writing robots to fuck up whatever medium everyone tries to use instead, surely?

(I know this observation does not bring the lols, or only at my expense, so I am really just screaming into the void, but, you know, when I first got an email address and was less of a cynical sociophobe it seemed kind of awesome that maybe someone I didn't know would read something I'd put out there on the internet and feel compelled to drop me an email saying "hi". A decade later and anything from an unknown name goes straight in the bin, twice as fast if the subject is anything like "hi". Another daydream trampled, then. Not that random emails from genuine strangers seem as enticing now either.)

― a passing spacecadet, Saturday, 2 August 2008 10:48 (seventeen years ago)

it seemed kind of awesome that maybe someone I didn't know would read something I'd put out there on the internet

Maybe some kind of message board / forum kind of thing? But there's noting like that at the moment... I know, I'll invent one, and I'll make millions!!!

I joek, I joek...
Every morning when I check my e-mails, there are 200 messages, and only two or three are not spam. The rest are for online casinos, "magic small pills ;-)", blatantly made up stuff about celebrities, and stuff in French for some bizarre reason.

― snoball, Saturday, 2 August 2008 12:25 (seventeen years ago)

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