Comments on: Survey: Why do people respond to spam?

Almost one third of consumers questioned admit to answering e-mails they suspected were spam, says a new survey.

[bildan2]

I would suggest never doing business with anyone who initiates the first contact - regardless of the channel or media type. It's a zero sum game they wouldn't waste their time on unless they're sure they can beat you at it. You'll never get an even break.

If you think you might like the product, Google it to see if there are other vendors offering better products at lower prices. Read CNET reviews and product comparisons. Then, YOU initiate the contact.

From a retired marketing executive.

[BigGuns149]

While occasionally good products are marketed through questionable marketing practices, that doesn't automatically make the product not worth buying. Most spam I tend to see is from resellers not the actually manufacturer of the product. It just means that you should buy the product through a different vendor that is NOT spamming you. Most products of any significant number of sales have multiple vendors and generally speaking there is at least one vendor that isn't spamming potential customers. Often times you can buy the exact SAME product for less from a more ethical vendor.

[tinlizziedl]

Foolishness! With such huge numbers of spam messages being spent, it only takes a very low percentage of idiots to click on them to become profitable. So long as male fools believe they are small and need moth pheromones to net females, the market will always be there.

[One Old Jedi]

How 'bout...cuz people are stupid?

[ikramerica--2008]

Yepper.

Also, people receive hundreds of spam messages a day (though most are filtered out). But this survey doesn't ask if you routinely click on spam, but if you ever have. I can see 1/3rd saying yes, because they may have done so before they realized what stupid people they were, then wised up.

[notsatch]

Foolishness! With such huge numbers of spam messages being spent, it only takes a very low percentage of idiots to click on them to become profitable. So long as female bimbos believe they are fat and need moth pheromones to net males, the market will always be there.

[LaTene_Man]

How about summarily killing all spammers? That'll put a stop to them!

[BigGuns149]

The problem is that spammers are competing with drug cartels for their ability to obscure their paper trails. Sure authorities CAN find spammers, but it isn't easy. As long as there are millions of dollars per year in potential profit off of spam and the chances of being caught nevermind killed remote how effective would making spamming a capital offense in reducing spam?

[LaTene_Man]

Wouldn't hurt!

[SergeM256]

I suspect most of the spam leads to the web sites that only steal credit card's numbers and never send any merchandise.

[BigGuns149]

I understand that some websites affiliated with spam send products, but they tend to be phony knockoffs of what they are supposed to be selling. That being said there are all sorts of schemes like advance fee fraud scams that are even more nefarious. With credit card fraud you might be able to escape most of the loss, but if you go send a check to a Nigerian scammer promising lottery winnings you are really out of all your money.

[Vegaman_Dan]

You only have to be web-aware and a bit paranoid to avoid these things. Those that aren't are the likely targets. Do yourself and your family a favor by helping them spot the tell tale signs of SPAM.

Now pardon me, as I have to write a check to this fella in Nigeria...

[ikramerica--2008]

Well, Mr. honorable VegaDan, an oil executive in Kuwait was recently killed in an outto accident, one sir Mr. Ronald Vegadann, and whom was for having $15 million dollars in an account in that country in a bank in that country. He has left no hairs, and due to the laws here being such that you, as with the same name, can claim this money, for a transferring fee of 10 percent!

[biffhenerson]

Give a person a gun and many will look inside the barrel. People are not too smart. Especially when it comes to technology. (and voting, and buying a house they can afford, and investing in health insurance, and...)

[c|net Reader]

I say blow the whistle and tell them to get out of the gene pool!

[deepen05]

im usually a curious person when it comes to spam mail. so i just click it anyway just to see what it is. Im 50/50 with spam mail. if im not too busy, then im like 'hey why not?" doesn't hurt to look for curiousity.

[Crankypaul]

I have a pretty good spam detector "roadblock" set up between my ISP (Verizon) and an aftermarket spam detector (Spamsieve, only available for Macs) and I've managed to cut my spam/junk down to a relative trickle. But I do notice that on those rare occasions that a spam email gets opened, either by an error in judgement or an error in key motion, the amount of spam increases considerably for a period of time afterward.

I do have a Dell that is internet capable but I restrict its use to sending invoices to customers and nothing else. I could never see myself exposing a Wintel machine to the horror stories that I have heard and read about. I know that one day Macs will become more susceptible to spam invasion, but I'm happy on my side of the sandbox.

And I also agree that I would never interact with an emailer that I have never heard from before, any more than I would interact with a phone spammer or a snail mail spammer. If I don't know you, but I'm looking for your services, I'll call you, thank you very much.

[inachu1]

Forgot the other option for why they click on spam:

THEY DID NOT KNOW ANY BETTER.

[DADSGETNDOWN]

Unfortunately this just shows how ignorant and stupid most people are.
Trusting your Antivrus, Spyware/Malware programs and the like ?.
DON'T, NOT ONE is FULL Proof.

Why would you click on a link or reply to something YOU "KNOW" is spam ?.
Lack of Logic, common sense AND knowledge. With WAY to much Stupidity.
Accidents ? Hm, doub't it. but computers do wierd things so maybe a few of those who said accidentally, was true.

ALL the others Are in the above category. You like the product ? is that any reason to INFECT your computer and maybe everyone esle you know ?. is it any reason to possible give out ANY vital information, ? Name, bank account or anything else ?. NO, NO , NO NO, DEFINITIVE NO!!!

Send a reply telling them to stop ?..Lol.
MOST of These are computers bots called programs that do this randomly, once you respond they know you are alive, they know that email or number exists.
They don't know until you open it. Sort of Like a knock on the door, (execpet when you look at a home you can usually tell if it is someone living there or not. with email or numbers they dont know. they don't know you are home, but you can hear them, if you open the door, do I need to say more ?.
YEP, because of reasons above! IF IF you open the door THEN and ONLY then do they know you are home. and then can get to you face to face.

[aaasolanki]

There are occasions when I open 'legitimate looking spam' to unsubscribe from them. This has indeed worked on quite a few occasions bringing my spam count down by almost two thirds. Yes, I know you should not be letting anyone know if your email ID is active or not and it might actually be dangerous for one to open spam emails, but I take utmost precautions by keeping Javascript blocked, protecting my PC with hardware/software firewalls, updated anti-virus and even using Ubuntu (aka layman's Linux) on occasions for doing this stuff.

[lefty.crupps]

I think its more a question of ignorance -- people just don't know any better. Which is a HUGE reason people need to stop using Windows, especially if 80% of people don't think their "computer" (actually, their MS Windows) can become infected just from an email message.

Linux: it's Free, it's Secure, and it's NOT the swiss-cheese that Windows is. Unfortunately, there is too much money being made from Windows users, so the cash cow will remain while the smart users will move on to a better OS.

[A41202813]

Whenever I Have The Time, There Are Three Actions I Take, When I See Some Types Of Spam.

If Some Email Impersonates GOOGLE, I Report That Mail To Them, Using The Options That Exist In GMAIL.

Any Evident Phishing Email ?
I Report The Link Using Options That Exist In FF And,
I Report It Also Using The Options That Exist In IE.