Spam – What is it Good For?

I keep an outdated email address that I use whenever I need to sign up for anything on the Internet. I personally don’t use that email account for sending or receiving messages. I only use it to confirm my address for certain websites that require such a thing.

I have posted my email on my website and this blog because I want people who are interested in my writing to be able to get a hold of me. So far, I haven’t had any problems with doing so. But today, I started receiving spam at this address.

I don’t know what use unsolicited email advertisements actually serve. I normally delete messages where I do not recognize the sender. I have opened emails before thinking that ads can’t really do any harm, but I was wrong. I have gotten viruses and messed up my computer a few times due to an email. Now I am very cautious about opening anything suspicious.

I wonder if anyone enjoys reading spam. Do people open up links out of curiosity? I know that some people don’t like getting junk mail at home, while others enjoy reading flyers and looking for deals. I haven’t really seen people that do the same thing online.

I just hope that these two unsolicited emails won’t lead to an avalanche of more spam. I really don’t like the waste of time it incurs. I hope it doesn’t cause any damage or fill up my inbox. I just hate spam! Doesn’t everyone?


2 responses to “Spam – What is it Good For?”

  1. Yes, I hate it with a passion! And the sad thing is, that it does work. All they need is to hook one gullible person and empty his wallet and they’ve made up for whatever pennies they spent sending out a million rejected emails.

    Phishing spam is the most evil, of course. It’s creepy to get an email that’s not just selling junk but is actually from a genuine criminal intent on hurting you.

    My biggest two peeves are:

    When it takes money from senior citizens who don’t have the energy, the resources or the know-how in many cases to fight back;

    And when it blasphemes religion by cloaking itself in some fraudulent pious format: “Dear brother in Christ, please help me do the Lord’s work blah blah blah.”

    Have they no shame at all?