Marketing & SEO Discussion List - LED Digest

Written by Tom Aman
March 1, 2006

Fighting Spam - an Update

In that original post, I stated that, before starting to unsubscribe, I established that I was receiving an average of 295 SPAM emails per day.  35 days after starting to unsubscribe that average was down to 151 (51% of the original average) and two weeks after that it was down to 138 (47% of the original average).

It is now a month later and this post is just to give everyone an update on my SPAM fight results. My latest 10 day average of SPAM received is 36 or 12% of the original 295. Obviously, contrary to the conventional advice from the "experts", unsubscribing does work. This number is also low enough that I no longer need to use any form of SPAM filter. I can now deal with all the incoming SPAM in a minute or two, including taking time to unsubscribe where the option is offered.

I would be interested in hearing the experience of others who were receiving a lot (more than 200 per day) of SPAM and have tried or are trying the "unsubscribe" approach.

Tom Aman

Aman Software

cyberspyder.com

I think it's great that Tom Aman has found the unsubscribe approach to work so well.  His results are really impressive.  However, it simply wouldn't work for me.  I only get around 60 SPAM emails a day (I'm not sure why I'm so unpopular...), and after checking, I find that NONE of them have an unsubscribe option.

Tom Anson

Anson Aromatic Essentials

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Written by Michael Linehan
March 3, 2006

Whenever there is a "Fighting Spam" thread, I sometimes have a look at sites being discussed. I frequently see (this time again) that there is an email address completely exposed to spam harvesters, either in the copy or in the HTML code.

The best way I've found to not get spam is to prevent it. And one of the major ways of doing that is not to expose an address on your site.  Use a contact form or encode the email link.  I get around zero to six spam a day, and have done so for years.

Michael Linehan

marketing-alchemy.com

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Written by Vicki Lambert
March 6, 2006

I too was impressed with his ability to get rid of spam so I thought I will try it.  I am a little too popular with over 200 spams a day on a good day, and don't even think about Mondays.  Sometimes 500-600 have come in over the weekend.

So yesterday I checked as they came rolling in.  Maybe one in 10 had an unsubscribe feature. One had something I had never seen before as well.  When I clicked unsubscribe at the bottom of the page it took me to the website where it tried to sell me something and convince me how great it was to be on their subscriber list (which I never signed up for and have never visited their site before). After two more clicks it did give me the unsubscribe message but I am wondering what goodies those extra clicks will bring in the future.

Vicki Lambert

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Written by Tom Aman
March 9, 2006

"When I clicked unsubscribe at the bottom of the page it took me to the website where it tried to sell me something... After two more clicks it did give me the unsubscribe message..." - Vicki Lambert

It is not unusual for an unsubscribe link to try to sell you something first, before you actually get to unsubscribe.

If the SPAM does not contain an unsubscribe, there are other options.  One thing you can do is go to the link contained in the SPAM to see if the site provides an unsubscribe link.  Another choice it to use a site like http://www.dnsstuff.com/ to do a WHOIS lookup to see if there might be an email address to which you can report abuse.  Or, just go to http://www.ftc.gov/spam/ and report the SPAM.

Of course any of these options are a bit time consuming so I would only suggest doing them occasionally when you feel you can spare the extra time.

Tom Aman

Aman Software

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Written by Rick Gortatowsky
March 14, 2006

Gee I am getting a lot of bandwidth lately at LED! I also managed to get on the Lionel show and be broadcast across the country pertinent to the reality of the state of the nation if you will last week (see Rick's post on Offshore Outsourcing in LED 2114 in the Billboard section).

As to this SPAM stuff. Unfortunately what many do not realize is that by clicking an unsubscribe button they may well end up being subjected to even more spam! There is no law saying an unsubscribe link must unsubscribe. I have found in my years many sites that do just that. What an effective business model! Perhaps US businesses should look at this one LOL.

You inadvertently subscribe to some spamola site. Usually the real good spammers have the email coming from completely bogus mail addresses (easy to do) and often even the message routing ends up in a black hole if one traces it back. You then go unsubscribe. The perpetratior(s) then take that information and subscribe you to legitimate mailing lists and get paid for the submissions or perhaps even affiliate money if you purchase something! What a business model! Greasy cheese feeds the rat (c) R Gortatowsky 2006, LOL. You've heard of the "Early bird gets the worm" right? Not so true today, actually the bird gets shot for having West Nile virus.

Here's what needs to happen. First off SPAM needs a new name. Something that sounds really really bad. Like the term "terrorism" sounds very very nasty (when in fact terrorists and those who support terrorisists don't call them terrorists but in fact things like freedom fighters, martyrs etc.)

We need a term that has some shock value such as "Possible Identity Security Threat" or PIST for short. I am sure I could do better but off the cuff, you get the idea. Now... to take a real SWIPE at spam which in fact really can be a identity and security threat getting folks truly pist (lol) a differing mechanism need be invented. Its not secure mail per se but instead lets take an example from Federal Express! Trackable mail. That is to say a new standard need be made. So ISP's have a filter that basically says, "Well hay, if this mail coming in does not have a tracking number then it will be returned to sender". Said number is registered back to the initiating domain before the mail is released to the client. Via this mechanism we could also really create secure mail. If a PIST'r is slamming people with email upon arrival to the recipients mail server said server sends back the tracking, then the originating server domain handshakes. Ok, now we know where it comes from or it will not be delivered to the recipient. Imagine how much this would cut down on viruses. Even if the mail was just dumped thats ok. I think it better to slam it right back to the originating domain with a have a nice day (LOL).

Mail could also be secured. Said tracking number could be used to encrypt the email and decrypt it. So on the occassion that a PIST might come through the user can take measure of it first, before running the decrypt on it. Said mechinism would help eliminate spam, virus propagation, phishing etc.

Now I have not placed heaps of thought into this but you get the idea.

Rick Gortatowsky

"Unfortunately what many do not realize is that by clicking an unsubscribe button they may well end up being subjected to even more spam! There is no law saying an unsubscribe link must unsubscribe." - Rick Gortatowsky

Rick, I have a simple request: "prove it".  You are repeating the "urban myth" that clicking on an unsubscribe link will get you even more SPAM. That is not true.  It probably has never been true.

The only ones to benefit from a person not unsubscribing are the list sellers and the list users.  If you disagree with that, then supply us with detailed numbers and statistics based on real life experience and hard facts instead of repeating the vague, unsupported statement "may well end up".  You say that you have "found in my years many sites that do just that".  Again, "prove it".  Give us the URLs or names of some of those sites.

Let us be VERY clear.  Based on my actual experience and the detailed records that I kept, clicking on the unsubscribe button results in less spam.  It does not result in more.  Last time I posted on this subject, my SPAM was averaging 38 per day.  It is now down to 25.  Of those 25, 6 are in English, 1 has an usubscribe link, the rest I cannot read (as the language is Spanish, Russian, etc.).  When I initially started my unsubscribe campaign, I was receiving an average of 295 per day.  So I have eliminated 91% of my SPAM by unsubscribing.  I have discontinued using a spam filter as I no longer need one.

Also, regarding "no law", you are wrong.  There is a law saying that an unsubscribe link must unsubscribe.  It is known as CAN-SPAM.  And if the unsubscribe does not work (or none is supplied), the SPAM can be reported to the FTC (see http://www.ftc.gov/, and click on "File a Complaint").  And they seem happy to accept complaints from outside the US since their online form has provision for specifying your country.

Tom Aman