So we've got some of the most fancy Spam filtering stuff at work. Not a lot comes through because the system we use 'learns' patterns in Spam. Well, someone finally broke the code - I am now getting Spam.....in German. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do? Go take a language course at the local community college so I can find out how to get the lowest mortgage rate on my house? These people are desperate.
I don't get Spam. Viruses, yeah, I can understand why the idiots who write them use it as a way of distributing their crap, but how can anyone sell V!agr@ or help 3nlarge Yuor P+E+N+!_S using an email that's written in l33t? Someone has to be making some money somewhere so are enough people so stupid or hard up for a hard-on that they actually purchase this stuff making spam a cost effective advertising venture? My mind boggles.
One of our email guys informs me that 80% of our inbound email is Spam. We get messages several times a day indicating all the emails that are held in the Spam queue because occasionally, the smart filtering kills something you don't want it to. Spam represents a lot of lost revenue for companies in both time and the physical resources needed to stop it.
Remember that just because you don't see the mail doesn't mean the system is perfect. It's akin to not answering your phone because it could be a telemarketer: You still have to wait for the phone to stop ringing before you can use it. My email server at home spends most of it's time responding to spam (searching for the person who it's supposed to go to, determining they don't exist, and deleting the email). Bastards.
I personally feel shooting Spammers is justifiable homicide....
[Update]
I sent one of those emails to my manager who happens to be German. Her response?
Huh? Why would this be sent to me? This is a criminal report on a guy with a dog.
I guess it's not spam after all ;)
* How do you say Spam in German?