The Economics Of Spamming

Shardleton writes "What kind of an idiot would buy penis-enlargement pills? Even more idiotic, who would buy them from a spammer? Apparently LOTS of people, according to this article at Wired. The operators of a spamvertised order site left their customer logs exposed. There were 6,000 orders for the pills since July 4. Sayeth Wired: "Do the math and you begin to understand why spammers are willing to put up with the wrath of spam recipients, Internet service providers and federal regulators.""

Comments

Uh-oh

[Ominous Coward]

There's now going to be about 6,000 very embarrassed men if these logs remain accessible.

Re:Uh-oh

[twoslice]

They were ordering for a friend

Re:Uh-oh

[MadCow42]

>>They were ordering for a friend

And being involved in your "friend's" erectile dysfunction is somehow LESS embarassing?

Hmmm...

MadCow

Ooh

[Sir Haxalot]

What kind of an idiot would buy penis-enlargement pills?
Meeeeeeeeeee :(

Forget the pills

[Mothra the III]

The penis enlargement lotions work much better. Send me your email and I will tell you how to take advantage of this great offer!

women customers?

[civilengineer]

Other customers included the head of a credit-repair firm, a chiropractor, a veterinarian, a landscaper and several people from the military. Numerous women also were evidently among Amazing Internet's customers

Talk about salesmanship!

You! Outta the Gene Pool!

[Garg]

Tiny dicks AND no brains? Hopefully a side effect of these pills is sterilization...

Garg

E-mail Addresses needed

[Bull999999]

Where can I get the E-mail addresses of those 6,000 people who ordered the pills? I'm a classmate of a roomate who's sister's boyfriend's father's 3rd cousin is a banker in Nigeria who's looking for someone to help him get 300 million dollars out of Nigeria for a cut.

I bought the pills

[Hayzeus]

I alone am responsible for all 6000 orders. Soon, very soon, my penis will be the size of North America, and the world will quake in fear.

Re:who would buy?

[NanoGator]

"an idiot with a small penis "

Aren't you glad Slashdot lets you post anonymously? :)

jobs?

[mblase]

At least telemarketing provides jobs.

So does pimping, but that doesn't mean I'm going to recognize it as an overall benefit to society.

Is it April again already?

[meeotch]

For once, it's actually worth R'ing the FA:

Bournival refused repeated requests for interviews about his business. When approached for comment at a chess tournament in Merrimack, New Hampshire, last month, Bournival, who is a national-master-caliber player, ran away from a Wired News reporter.

An investigation (registration to Salon.com required) last month revealed that Bournival's mentor and business partner is Davis Wolfgang Hawke, a chess expert and former neo-Nazi leader who turned to the spam business in 1999 after it became public that his father was Jewish.

You can't make this stuff up.

mitch

Re:a guess

[Mannerism]

"Look at the "pet rocks" that sold in the 70's."

I'd have to say you missed the point of the Pet Rock. The product was actually the (moderately) funny book that came with the rock.

Yours came with a book?

Crap.

My new business plan!

[DaveAtFraud]

Variation: subscription service for intelligence improvement pills. Charge $9.95 for a month's supply. When you get smart enough to stop sending me $9.95 a month for sugar pills I have proof that they obviously worked.

Re:And they don't even have to sell anything

[Zork the Almighty]

"Homer, that was an episode of Happy Days!"