Stuffing the Spammers!

I'm really, truly fed up with spam. Every day when the spam arrives and Norton Security moves it into the Norton Anti-spam folder of my Outlook email client, I wonder how anyone can be so incredibly stupid as to waste their time sending me such garbage.

Let's face it; I never read it. I never buy anything from unsolicited sources or do anything as a result of spam. I detest it! And God knows I don't need viagra, however many times it's offered.

What fool would send anyone a message about a mortgage application approval when he has owned his house for years?

What fool would write offering me a peep at her new porn site? I'm not interested in porn ... I prefer the real thing. Offer me something tangible and I may get excited.

I guess you probably feel the same.

Unfortunately, the plague of spam isn't going to fade away any time soon, although authorities (at least in Australia) have started taking legal action and imposing hefty penalties for spamming. Hallelujah!

As a last resort, I decided to make my own small contribution to reducing the spam plague. If each of us does something, the cumulative effect will be damaging to the spammers. Here's what I did. I've collected thousands of email addresses that arrived in spam messages and ended up in my blacklist. I decided I'd give those people using automatic harvesting software an opportunity to suck up all those addresses and reuse them.

I've dedicated quite a few pages on my site that have nothing but the email addresses from the blacklist. That is, the addresses of the spammers, most of which are false and don't lead to anyone ... at least not to anyone who can read (otherwise I'd include an obscene message).

When the spam harvesting software goes through my site, it won't find a single working email address in my site proper, but it will stumble on a goldmine of addresses and load them into it's database. It will be stuffed full of email addresses, none of which work. The spammers will pay to send them out and they'll bounce somewhere, hopefully right back to them.

Imagine what would happen if we all did that? There would be so many dud addresses floating around that harvesting would be a waste of time. the spammers would all go away and do something legitimate ... perhaps.

You and I would get some relief from these annoying intruders in our email inboxes.

If you are in a position to load your site with a few thousand dud email addresses, why not give it a go and Stuff the Spammers?

Published May 2005. Copyright Robin Henry 2005

Robin Henry is an educator, human resources specialist and Internet marketer whose firm, Desert Wave Enterprises, helps individuals and businesses improve their performance by using smart processes, smart technology and personal development. He has a number of tertiary qualifications including a Master of Education degree majoring in education technology and online learning. He lives at Alice Springs In Central Australia. Visit Desert Wave Enterprises

---

Edating Readers

One of our Australian clients sent out a campaign using... Read More

All About Spam

Spam is annoying. Period. Why people would want to send... Read More

Fight Spam and Fortify Your Web Site with RSS

RSS is the answer to the Spam epidemic of the... Read More

Phishing for an Identity

Phishing is rapidly becoming on the largest threats to your... Read More

How To Analyze A Rip-Off Scheme

This review is taken DIRECTLY from a piece of "junk... Read More

Bayesian Spam Filters Explained

In a word Bayesian spam filters are "intelligent". Bayesian spam... Read More

Customers Demand Internet Privacy

... and you'd better sit up and take notice! Customers... Read More

Dealing With SPAM - An E-mail Address Strategy

With SPAM being such a problem it might seem the... Read More

Three Faces of SPAM

Like everybody who will ever read this, I get spam... Read More

How To Stop Spam (Especially If You?re Already a Victim)

Spam. Those annoying, time-consuming emails that clog your Inbox and... Read More

Which Spam Filter Is Best For You?

With the number of spam filtering solutions increasing each week... Read More

Where Did The Word Spam Come From?

We've all become familiar with the term spam. It's become... Read More

Spam Filters Explained

What do they do? How do they work? Which one... Read More

How To Stop Unwanted Email Spam

You can stop unwanted email spam, you can choose to... Read More

Spammer Stole My Email Address?

Do you get bounced, or rejected emails sent by someone... Read More

How Spammers Fool Rule-based and Signature-Based Spam Filters

Effectively stopping spam over the long-term requires much more than... Read More

BUSTED: Anti Spam Forces Bankrupt Super-Spammer Scott Richter

Microsoft scores one for the good guysScott Richter, the self-proclaimed... Read More

Why Your ISP Takes Bribes From Spammers

The lifeblood of the spammer is email. They need to... Read More

Internet Tip of the Week: Information Overload

We receive so much information on the Internet, especially via... Read More

What Exactly is Spam?

Spam, as defined in the context of computers, the Internet... Read More

How Spammers Fool Bayesian Filters - And How to Stop Them

Effectively stopping spam over the long-term requires much more than... Read More

Learn Simple Strategies That Will Stop Spammers From Bombarding Your Inbox!

Spam filter is the solution that most people resort when... Read More

Getting Back To Basics.

While we all agree that there`s way too much spamming/junk-mailing... Read More

Lockspam Free 3.0 Released!

6 August, 2004: Polesoft Inc., home of Professional anti spam... Read More

Blackhole or Fail - Which One Is Better For Your Mail Server?

Very often SPAMMERS take advantage of catch-all email setup on... Read More

Your Dolphin E-mail Caught In Spam Tuna Net?

Let me ask a couple of questions:If (potential) customers sends... Read More

The Vanishing Mail

Am I Just Being Paranoid Or Are The Robots Out... Read More

How to Protect Your Email ID from Spammers?

You must be one of them experiencing a lot of... Read More

Ignoring These Tips Could Result in an Inbox Full of Spam

Although there still seem to be some differences among the... Read More

Sick Of Wading Through Spam?

It's a nightmare isn't it? You fire up your email... Read More

What To Do When You Get Spam

When you go to your mailbox and find pieces of... Read More

The Business Of Sending Spam

You all tear your hair out in frustration every time... Read More

Email Chain Letters - Harmless Fun or Not?

I'm sure I'm not the only person on the planet... Read More