Does SPAM Unsubscribing Really Work? 107
dacarr asks: "An associate on a mailing list I am on recalled an article (which he, in turn, does not recall), in which the author managed to reduce his spam some 80% by, of all things, using the provided 'unsubscribe' mechanism in the messages. This is totally counterintuitive to what most of us have learned (doing so was a spectacularly good way to actually *confirm* your address) - but perhaps this isn't the case anymore, based on this. Has anyone else had any luck as far as this goes? By following the aforementioned unsub links, said associate found a number of broken links and dead addresses (and one link that tried to create an attachment and email it out (which he stopped)), but after three days and 400 unsub links, he trimmed his spam levels 'from an average of 250 a day to just 40 today' - that's just around 17% of what he was getting. Maybe spammers are getting their act together and listening for a change." Do any of you have any anecdotal evidence to provide to confirm or contradict this? Have you been able to lower your spam volume by "unsubscribing"?
Re:I've been thinking about doing this (Score:5, Funny)
Sincerely,
Alan Ralsky [freep.com]
CEO, Email Clearing House
Hmm... (Score:5, Funny)
Fox: "No, really, we only eat bugs and stuff."
Chicken: "Oh, really? Great! Lets do lunch"
Fox: "Muahahaha"
No, it doesn't (Score:4, Funny)
Really, what's with the uppercase? Is "spam" an acronym now?
Re:Not entirely the same method, but effective any (Score:3, Funny)
This also keeps your e-mail address out of the computers that are most likely to pick up trojans, spyware, and viruses.
Re:I've had good success with this. (Score:2, Funny)
Legit spammers? Do they exist?
Is it legal to use "legit" and "spammers" in one sentence?
Spam Unsubscribing is like... (Score:2, Funny)
"Hello, this is John Smith living at 1234 Any Street. I have a lot of valuables and carry a lot of cash on my person, please do not rob me or bugularize my house."