Spam (#4) Spam (#4)

I get well over 100 spam messages a day, mostly I think as a result of being relatively active on the Internet over the last decade and a half. Over the last six months or so, it hasn't been that bad, because my ISP was doing a good job at filtering it. But it is now letting some 30 or so spam messages through a day, and rejecting another 100 or so. It needs to readjust its filtering.

I am always amazed at how brazen so much of it is. Yesterday I got another breathless request that some unknown stock was about to begin a run up, and, that if I were a savy investor, I would want to get in on the bottom floor. Of course, I wouldn't be getting in on the bottom floor, because that is the precise purpose of the email - to run the stock up.

I still get a lot of phishing. Not surprisingly though, none of my spam filters has any problem recognizing false eBay requests to update my account information - though I must admit that the latest "protest" of a recent purchase is quite clever there - apparently heavy eBay sellers are quite zeleous about maintaining their reputations, and this preys on this. No problem for me though, since I don't expect to sell anything on eBay in the forseeable future, since the work of building such a reputation appears formidable. So, for me, it is easy to detect these scams.

I still get a lot of drug spam, but rarely get it for penis enlargers any more. And I haven't had the sons of any deposed African rulers asking me recently for help in moving their innocently acquired wealth out of their countries.