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

---

Fight Spam and Fortify Your Web Site with RSS

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

Getting Back To Basics.

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

Spam The Spammer - Will It Work?

Spam is everywhere. It's the "in-box lunch meat" nobody likes,... 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

Do You Know Whats in Your Trash?

A hearty welcome to all the spam fighting filters and... Read More

Dealing With SPAM - An E-mail Address Strategy

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

FTC Botches Fight on SPAM, Microsoft Takes Over the Battle

While the Federal Trade Commission is busy fighting over definitions... Read More

Internet Theft and Fraud

My friends in the web hosting business have recently informed... Read More

Spasms & Spamocidal Mania

Below is a letter I wrote to the following organizations:S.H.U.... Read More

SPAM: A Nutrious Food or a Waste of Time?

Unless the filters on your computer are really good, you're... Read More

A War on SPAM: Attacking The Evil

As most small, medium and large businesses in this country... Read More

Internet Tip of the Week: Information Overload

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

What to Do to Avoid Getting Banned

How would you feel if you found a link on... Read More

Is Spam Affecting Your Business Email?

5 Ways Spam Is Affecting Your Business And what we... Read More

A Practical Approach to Eliminate Spam

Spam is out of control! I guess that would be... Read More

Protecting Your Business From Spam

Even being as careful as possible with my email address,... Read More

Why Is Spam Such a Problem?

Spam can be a lot more damaging than you might... Read More

Your Dolphin E-mail Caught In Spam Tuna Net?

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

Internet Tip of the Week: Outsourcing

It's no secret that the US economy has slowed down,... Read More

Spam - How to Report it

I'm sure you find spam just as frustrating and annoying... Read More

Avoid, Shun, Thwart, Prevent, and then Filter Spam

Email is rapidly becoming the standard means of communication among... Read More

The War on Spam: Google Fights Back

Google is engaged in a war. It is a war... Read More

How to Write a Privacy Policy

A Privacy Policy can be defined as the policy under... Read More

E-mail SPAM: Whats The Big Deal?

It absolutely amazes me how many people over-react to receiving... Read More

Internet Tip of the Week: Cease and Desist

While we all admit that unsolicited commercial email is a... Read More

Kill The Messenger (Service)

You are familiar with the software applications that you run... Read More

Evict the Spammers from Your Inbox

Block Spam and Other Email Threats From Entering Your Gateway... Read More

The Great Spam Scam: Five Strategies To Stop Brand and Revenue Robbery

Marketers usually think of anti-spam tactics as 'how to prevent'... Read More

Spam - Its Whats For Breakfast

The first thing I do every morning when I wake... Read More

CAN-SPAM Basics

I. BACKGROUNDThe CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault 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

How to Fight Back BEFORE Youre Falsely Accused of Spam

A friend of mine received a chilling email message from... Read More

Spam with Typos: Why Do They All Have Spelling Errors?

A friend asked me: I don't get it. Why do... Read More