unsubscribing from spam: does it work?

[Crappopotamus]

ive heard different stories from different people... some people swear by it, some people think it signs you up for more...

well?

 

[DeviousTrap]

nar, I tried and only got more.

 

[fatbaby]

Yeah usually you have to enter your email address in the "unsubscribe box", which basically signs you up for more spam.

 

[rival]

nope never do...my dumbass gf replied to all her spam one day, and the next day she got them all back, exactly like i told her, she wasted about 1 hr doing so...fvcking moron

 

[oniq]

Originally posted by: rival
nope never do...my dumbass gf replied to all her spam one day, and the next day she got them all back, exactly like i told her, she wasted about 1 hr doing so...fvcking moron

did you punch her in the face for wasting time?

 

[Lonyo]

If you reply to spam, it tells the company that sent it you have an active email address, so they're more likely to send stuff because they know someone checks it.

If you don't click unsubscribe, they have no way of knowing if the address is still in actual use so you're not as likely to recieve more spam.

 

[Smolek]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
If you reply to spam, it tells the company that sent it you have an active email address, so they're more likely to send stuff because they know someone checks it.

exactly

 

[white]

it worked for me. some weeks there are spans of days without a single junk email.

 

[Descartes]

Having developed software that telemarketing companies use to discern "active" phone numbers (sorry!), I can say unequivocally that it does *not* work. Before the FCC strongly regulated predictive dialing, some of these systems would scan an entire prefix looking for valid phone numbers by discerning the voltage oscillations on the line when it was "picked up" (i.e. was it an answering machine, a change of phone #, disconnected, etc.). If the phone number was valid it would be resold to other telemarketing companies. A repository of phone #s with valid #s is MUCH more valuable than a repository of unknowns. The same is absolutely true for email. Never confirm that you actually received the email, even if its to ostensibly unsubscribe from their mailing list. Why would you unsubscribe from a list you never subscribed to in the first place?

Another word of advice for those that hate telemarketers: ALWAYS answer the phone. NEVER hang up on them. Tell the telemarketer that you wish to be placed on the do-not-call list. If you hang up on them, don't answer, etc., they'll just disposition your call as a "call back" and put you in their database as a valid #.

What a horrible business

 

[Crappopotamus]

Originally posted by: white
it worked for me. some weeks there are spans of days without a single junk email.

you're my hero. did it work for anyone else? im so tempted to try it... im so sick of this spam. but i dont want MORE SPAM. nooo.

 

[Crappopotamus]

Originally posted by: Descartes
Having developed software that telemarketing companies use to discern "active" phone numbers (sorry!), I can say unequivocally that it does *not* work. Before the FCC strongly regulated predictive dialing, some of these systems would scan an entire prefix looking for valid phone numbers by discerning the voltage oscillations on the line when it was "picked up" (i.e. was it an answering machine, a change of phone #, disconnected, etc.). If the phone number was valid it would be resold to other telemarketing companies. A repository of phone #s with valid #s is MUCH more valuable than a repository of unknowns. The same is absolutely true for email. Never confirm that you actually received the email, even if its to ostensibly unsubscribe from their mailing list. Why would you unsubscribe from a list you never subscribed to in the first place?

Another word of advice for those that hate telemarketers: ALWAYS answer the phone. NEVER hang up on them. Tell the telemarketer that you wish to be placed on the do-not-call list. If you hang up on them, don't answer, etc., they'll just disposition your call as a "call back" and put you in their database as a valid #.

What a horrible business

you... you... BASTARD!!

so unsubscribing would not have the same affect as being placed on the do not call list? i guess spammers have looser regulations?

 

[BillGates]

It does work ---- with LEGIT companies!!

For example, Novell liked to send me newsletters for CNA's every week that I could really care less about. I consider this to be spam even though it isn't the same type of spam that you typically think of. I unsubscribed easily and successfully from that list and no longer receive anything from them. The same can be said about other large corporations and "known entities" where you can expect to have some degree of trust.

 

[paruhd0x]

I wish spammers could not fake their e-mail addresses they sent from. Then I'd be able to just add them to my block filter and never have to bother with them again.

 

[clicknext]

It works for me... I had about 50 spam mails coming to my box every day before, but I did the little unsubscribe thingy on a lot of them and now there's like 2 a day.

 

[Muck]

Before I became computer literate a few years back, I used to unsubscribe from everything. Just ended up with more spam.

 

[B00ne]

yes it does work but u get even more spam from another company - maybe it is the same with a different name

spam sux and u dont get out of it ( got it down to 2-5 mails per week, by unsubscribing - constantly)

 

[B00ne]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
If you reply to spam, it tells the company that sent it you have an active email address, so they're more likely to send stuff because they know someone checks it.

If you don't click unsubscribe, they have no way of knowing if the address is still in actual use so you're not as likely to recieve more spam.

sry no, most spam nowadays is calling up some website/html so just by opening/viewing the mail in question u confirm your account

 

[brunswickite]

for me yes, i get less and less everytime i unsuscrive

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Crappopotamus

Originally posted by: Descartes
Having developed software that telemarketing companies use to discern "active" phone numbers (sorry!), I can say unequivocally that it does *not* work. Before the FCC strongly regulated predictive dialing, some of these systems would scan an entire prefix looking for valid phone numbers by discerning the voltage oscillations on the line when it was "picked up" (i.e. was it an answering machine, a change of phone #, disconnected, etc.). If the phone number was valid it would be resold to other telemarketing companies. A repository of phone #s with valid #s is MUCH more valuable than a repository of unknowns. The same is absolutely true for email. Never confirm that you actually received the email, even if its to ostensibly unsubscribe from their mailing list. Why would you unsubscribe from a list you never subscribed to in the first place?

Another word of advice for those that hate telemarketers: ALWAYS answer the phone. NEVER hang up on them. Tell the telemarketer that you wish to be placed on the do-not-call list. If you hang up on them, don't answer, etc., they'll just disposition your call as a "call back" and put you in their database as a valid #.

What a horrible business

you... you... BASTARD!!

so unsubscribing would not have the same affect as being placed on the do not call list? i guess spammers have looser regulations?

Systems such as these are necessary for many things, it's just that many companies use them for nefarious purposes (e.g. bugging you at 6PM to push their product).

No, spammers don't have a universal "do not email" repository. Marketing companies get fined $11,000 for every instance where they call someone from the do-not-call list.

However, as BillGates said, reputable companies do adhere to the requests to unsubscribe. You can generally tell which emails are backed by reputable companies and those which are not. Use your judgement when you unsubscribe and you'll be fine.

 

[zephyrprime]

The problem is, the companies are too smart for little things like unsubscribing to work. They have a rotation of shell companies that they set up. Even though you unsubscribe from one shell company, they already have your info at the next shell company.

 

[anno]

I think I'm getting less spam since I've been using this mailwasher thing and bouncing it back for a couple weeks now..

whether that's reality or wishful thinking, at least using the mailwasher thing I'm not seeing the pictures anymore. that's an improvement.

 

[tcsenter]

It does work ---- with LEGIT companies!!

Exactly. If you signed up for the spam (like a newsletter or specials circular), then its probably safe to unsubscribe from it. If you didn't sign-up for it, its a hook to verify that your email address is 'active', which is more valuable to bulk spammers.

 

[Nocturnal]

Nope it just shows that your e-mail is valid.

 

[Winchester]

Originally posted by: B00ne

Originally posted by: Lonyo
If you reply to spam, it tells the company that sent it you have an active email address, so they're more likely to send stuff because they know someone checks it.

If you don't click unsubscribe, they have no way of knowing if the address is still in actual use so you're not as likely to recieve more spam.

sry no, most spam nowadays is calling up some website/html so just by opening/viewing the mail in question u confirm your account

Now that should be illegal!