Spammers - making it work with 1 in 12.5 million

[klingon 10]

Interesting one this:

 

Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send, finds a study.

 

By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer.

 

The analysis suggests that such a tiny response rate means a big spam operation can turn over millions of pounds in profit every year.

 

It also suggests that spammers may be susceptible to attacks that make it more costly to send junk mail.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7719281.stm

[JA2340 16]

Of course, you could always string them along, making it more expensive for them. Waste their time (but make it seem like they are getting somewhere) and then drop them in it!

 

There's a link somewhere, I'll have a look at home, because I've been there to investigate, and post it if i find it. Need to be cautious, though!

 

linky but BEWARE!! Only go there if you are sure you are ready for the time and effort required. Interesting site, though!

[frannyo 2]

Please do. Interesting. I wonder if these people have normal lives, have families, sleep at night, etc.?

[bobby12 0]

Just use Gmail and you never get any spam. Their spam filters are incredible. I get maybe one spam mail every 3 months.

[JA2340 16]

But, one wonders how many emails that you actually WANT, do you miss out because the filter has binned them.

 

IMHO a filter is built to fail, because they use pattern matching, so if I send an email with a "pattern" word, it will get chucked out. Sorta like the auto-censor some forums use. You cannot call someone (whose name is Richard, and is called by his shortened name) Dick, because the auto-censor blanks it.

[bobby12 0]

how do you know they use pattern matching?

 

gmail has a 'report spam' button so it could well be done based on the # of reports a specific mail subject/sender combo gets.

 

Probably they filter out spam based on that and several other things in their algorithm. They no doubt have identified many spam bots already (by ip and so on) and can filter out all their mails easily.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

As a parent social group coordinator for school I need to send out mass emails to all the parents to advise of functions/invites etc. When I send to the parents no problem, when I include the teachers whose emails through school have a spam filter they get bounced! If I send the same email to ONLY one teacher - no problem. So the schools spam filter basically rejects anything that is send to a lot of people.

[JA2340 16]

Originally Posted By: bobby12

how do you know they use pattern matching?

How do you know they don't?? Are you a programmer for google, or something? I have a major problem entrusting my mail to an external storage service, (I don't even use the server storage at work, I backup to my own external HDD)

Originally Posted By: bobby12

gmail has a 'report spam' button so it could well be done based on the # of reports a specific mail subject/sender combo gets.

And that is not pattern matching? Do me a favour! The subject/sender combo is EXACTLY a pattern. When the pattern is changed, ecer so slightly, the filter doesn't work anymore, until it sets off another pattern alarm somewhere.

Originally Posted By: bobby12

Probably they filter out spam based on that and several other things in their algorithm. They no doubt have identified many spam bots already (by ip and so on) and can filter out all their mails easily.

Quite possibly they have identified plenty of spammers already. BUT the spammers move about, harvesting insecured email addresses and sending from these places until compromised and identifying new marks while they wait to be matched to a spam pattern.

[2pints-mate 0]

Interesting --- Scambaiting, new word for me that.

[JA2340 16]

Yeah, would be fun though! Especially as I have no money, it'd be interesting to see them get something from me. Might try it with the snailmail letter I got from Spain, offering to share 22mil dollars (no indication of what currency so could be US or Tanzanian, or anywhere in between) with me because someone with "the same surname" as me had died. The only place my name appeared was on the front of the letter. Lazy bugger couldn't even be bothered doing a merge to the document!

[2pints-mate 0]

Lazy gits indeed.

 

Lets do some proper honest work.