FTC Encourages Consumers to Forward Them Spam

Burl Ives writes "See this CNN Article. 'The FTC encourages consumers to forward any spam they receive to the e-mail address uce@ftc.gov'. I'd say if they've posted their e-mail on the web, they are probably getting as much as the rest of us already, which isn't to say I'm not hoping to see some discussion of using the statistical spam sorters to auto forward a lot to them in encouragement..." I've been using SpamAssassin for some time now with excellent results. Perhaps now I need to have my spam folder auto-forward to the FTC as well.

Comments

Self-inflicted DDOS

[tuxedo-steve]

Heh, FTC slashdots self.

Re:Self-inflicted DDOS

[RiotXIX]

...and then blames terrorists.

If...

[darkov2]

...we find FTC commissioners have suddenly become very thin and rich with enourmous penises, we will know they got the spam.

Can't, apparently most of my SPAM isn't SPAM

[Boss, Pointy Haired]

"Note - This is NOT Spam - you posted to one of our FFA sites or added yourself to the list. This is a one-time email transmission...no removal is necessary. Click Remove button to be removed: Remove"

LOL

Re:What will they do?

[Amit J. Patel]

I used to send them all my spam, but like you, I started wondering what they did with it. I think I'd start sending them spam if they sent me a summary monthly of:

You sent us 1385 spam messages.
We had not seen 18 of them before.
We prosecuted 58 of the spammers:
13 were shot
19 were beheaded
26 were forced to read spam in prison

They'd probably get a lot better response rate that way.

- Amit

Read about Microsoft's efforts to do this.

[fmaxwell]

From http://www.bbspot.com/News/2002/03/block.html

Microsoft Unveils New Spam Blocking Technology
By Francisco Rangel

Redmond, WA - Microsoft has taken a new step in the ongoing fight against spam. The software company will offer a new Spam Blocking service named "Block XP". Initially, the service was tested on Hotmail accounts, but now is included as an IIS Service.

At a press conference, Steve Ballmer explained, "Our new system is guaranteed to only let through the e-mail that you want to see." He then proceeded to dance around singing, "Unspamable! Unspamable! Unspamable! Unspamable!"

Bill Gates spoke to the audience, explaining how the system works. "We've replaced unreliable computer filtering with specially trained third-world laborers. These workers, or 'Spam Blockers' as we like to call them, will personally check each and every one of the e- mails you are getting. Any suspicious messages will be sent to a Junk Mail folder or deleted right away."

The initial Hotmail users, were impressed by the new technology. "This system really has cut down on the spam I've been receiving. Come to think of it I haven't gotten any e-mails recently," said Harold Gorman, MSCE.

Consuela Xiang a 12 year old veteran employee of Microsoft's Block XP project said, "I get mail. I delete mail. I eat today."

Some users did remark that they were receiving more "special offers" about Windows XP and MSN than they did before the system was put in place.

George W. Bush chastised Microsoft for exporting e-mail monitoring jobs when the US had a fully staffed FBI already in place.

Sorry, but it looks like someone beat you to the idea. ;-)

Re:from the posting

[ergo98]

Oh come on: Surely one must respect people who can come up with genius subject lines as

"Re: Your account"

"Re: Martha, here is that information you requested" (OH GOSH! They mismailed it to me! AWESOME!)

"Remember me?"

"Earn the respect and accolades of your peers with a University Degree!"

"Women say: SIZE DOES MATTER!"

"Enlarge your penis"

(clearly the penis enlargement industry must be pretty profitable right now as probably 35%+ of spam relates to increasing the size of one's member).

Re:from the posting

[dizzy8578]

checking my inbox, I see 6 spams in the last week addressed to my "abuse@" alias..

Don't overestimate a spammers ability to even know where the spam is going

P. T. Barnum was right :)

NO!!!

[norweigiantroll]

It's a trick to get you to open and read your spam, to promote the US economy!!! Don't fall for it!!!

Re:What will they do?

[AntiNorm]

26 were forced to read spam in prison

I don't think spammers would last long enough in prison to read spam...they'd be too busy servicing their fellow inmates.

Re: What will they do?

[Black Parrot]

> I like the idea of forwarding the spam, but the question remains what will they do with it?

They're just looking for good deals on toner cartridges.