Spammer

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jttheclockman

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Feb 22, 2005
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I did not want to hijack Hank's post about some sort of scam so thought I would ask this question here. Jeff maybe the one to ask but will put it out there because maybe others know the answer. Now I am not smart at all so this maybe a dumb question but like we all say just ask it. It has to do with spamming. I seen this come up on FB as well as here last week. What is a spammer?? What is the purpose of spamming?? How does this affect us all??? What do we need to look out for if there are simple things to spot?? Who gains from this?? Just looking for an explanation as to what it is. Thanks.
 
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sorcerertd

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To me, spam=scam. It's all about money. It's been said that there's a sucker born every minute. If you send out enough "click here for something awesome" messages, somebody is going to fall for it. Some may be trying to scamming people directly for money. Others may be harvesting email addresses and contact information to sell to someone else so they can try to scam you.
Be very careful who you give your personal information to. Watch for requests to "verify" your login info. Avoid opening attachments that might have a virus/trojan/spyware attached that might harvest information that can be used or sold to scammers. Make sure you trust the source or have a way to verify the validity of the request.
In terms of what might happen here... somebody new shows up and posts a link for some awesome tools at great prices. All you need to do is click and...
 

egnald

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I don't know if my recollection is accurate or not, but I have always understood that SPAM is any kind of unwanted and unsolicited communication, typically an email, but also now phone text messages, etc. that gets sent out in bulk.

A lot of spam is somewhat benevolent and comes in the form of marketing or advertising spam from unscrupulous sellers like those that push get rich quick schemes and of course all of the cheap pills and knock off pills that are supposed to, well, increase blood flow.

On the other side of the coin is the spam that is associated with serious threats from cyber criminals that try to get personal information needed to steal your data, break into your online accounts, steal your money and generally spread malware like ransomware that demands untraceable currency such as Bitcoin.

While advertising spam is annoying, it is typically not a serious threat. A good email provider or email software can typically identify and filter these messages out. The other group of threats is much harder to combat and is far more dangerous.

My rule of thumb is to delete any unsolicited emails or texts from anyone that I do not know or have no reason to explicitly trust. In addition, I never click on any kind of link that provided in the body of an email unless it is from someone I know and trust.

Anyhow, that's my limited understanding in a nutshell - Dave
 

Mr Vic

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It's what's for Dinner!

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mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
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Sep 6, 2012
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Medina, Ohio
It's what's for Dinner!

View attachment 303670


Sorry Vic, not sure if I should click on your link 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
 

penicillin

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(Ignoring the posts about the food product.)

A spammer is someone who sends spam. The definition of spam has expanded since its original use, but I would define it as an unsolicited or unwanted message or messages. In our home, we call random phone calls "spam" too.

There are many different purposes to spam, and a given spam message may have more than one purpose. Spam may be simple mass advertising. It may be an attempt to defraud unsuspecting victims. Spam may have malicious intent, attacking the recipient or their devices, or to use them as a jumping-off point to attack others. Spam may be used to gather intelligence as simple as "Does an email address exist?" or as a part of a highly sophisticated, targeted "advanced persistent threat" attack. There is no single simple answer to your question.

A Personal Statement about Spam:
There are those who argue that the First Amendment gives them the right to send spam. I heard these arguments especially in the early days. I strongly disagree.

I contend that the First Amendment does not give you the right to force me to react or listen to your free speech. You have the right to stand on a street corner or in a public park and say what you wish. I may choose to listen or I may choose to walk away, but you do not have a right to force me to react, listen, or prevent me from walking away.

Extending that argument, you have a right to post your free speech on your website, where I may or may not choose to read it, but you do not have the right to forcibly deliver your free speech to my email inbox or my phone, filling it with unwanted messages and forcing me to react to delete it. For the same reason, you do not have a right to call my home, forcing me to react, interrupting my family meal or taking the time to delete it from my voice mailbox. That's true whether it is a real person or an automated bot delivering a recorded message, political, charity, poll, or otherwise.

I am not a lawyer or constitutional law expert. All I have is a common sense response to nonsense "free speech" assertions.
 

jttheclockman

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(Ignoring the posts about the food product.)

A spammer is someone who sends spam. The definition of spam has expanded since its original use, but I would define it as an unsolicited or unwanted message or messages. In our home, we call random phone calls "spam" too.

There are many different purposes to spam, and a given spam message may have more than one purpose. Spam may be simple mass advertising. It may be an attempt to defraud unsuspecting victims. Spam may have malicious intent, attacking the recipient or their devices, or to use them as a jumping-off point to attack others. Spam may be used to gather intelligence as simple as "Does an email address exist?" or as a part of a highly sophisticated, targeted "advanced persistent threat" attack. There is no single simple answer to your question.

A Personal Statement about Spam:
There are those who argue that the First Amendment gives them the right to send spam. I heard these arguments especially in the early days. I strongly disagree.

I contend that the First Amendment does not give you the right to force me to react or listen to your free speech. You have the right to stand on a street corner or in a public park and say what you wish. I may choose to listen or I may choose to walk away, but you do not have a right to force me to react, listen, or prevent me from walking away.

Extending that argument, you have a right to post your free speech on your website, where I may or may not choose to read it, but you do not have the right to forcibly deliver your free speech to my email inbox or my phone, filling it with unwanted messages and forcing me to react to delete it. For the same reason, you do not have a right to call my home, forcing me to react, interrupting my family meal or taking the time to delete it from my voice mailbox. That's true whether it is a real person or an automated bot delivering a recorded message, political, charity, poll, or otherwise.

I am not a lawyer or constitutional law expert. All I have is a common sense response to nonsense "free speech" assertions.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. This gives me a little more perspective as to what and why.
 

pshrynk

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Dec 6, 2017
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Lake City, Minnesota
The term Spam comes from Monty Python's Bloody Vikings! sketch. Basically a couple was in a restaurant and the waitress was telling them the specials, which consisted mostly of spam in repetitive amounts. "Spam, Spam, Eggs, Spam, Spam, Spam, and potatoes. With a side of Spam." Eventually, a bunch of Vikings started singing the Spam Song, Which was basically the word Spam chanted over and over. In the early days of the internet and email, spammers were ubiquitous and you could get up to a hundred unsolicited emails per day. Hence calling it all Spam.

Sorry if this is all too obvious, but I can't help flying my Python Nerd Flag. :cool:
 

sbwertz

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May 11, 2010
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Phoenix, AZ
We ate a LOT of Spam when I was a kid. My dad was an oilfield mechanic that specialized in troubleshooting. We lived in a trailer and moved a lot (I went to 22 schools in 12 years) and often were out on a rig location. Unlike ham, Spam required no refrigeration, (trailer friges were tiny) had a long shelf life, and could be used in any ham recipe. As a result, I can't even stand the smell of it LOL. I OD'd on it as a kid. I react much the same way to digital SPAM, and for the same basic reason. I've OD'd on it, too.
 

sbwertz

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Phoenix, AZ
When I was a teenager, we bought a house on a couple of acres.

We used to raise a pig every year. My mom used to get attached to them, and I vividly remember one time when they came to take the pig off to be butchered. My mom called out to them as they were driving away "Her name's Petunia!"
I was the one who had to take care of them, however, and I never liked them so much as when they were freezer wrapped!
 
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