Spam Scams Trying To Look Legit

Scams

from the not-doing-so-well... dept

Wired News is running two different articles about some questionable companies that are trying to look legit. First, is the story of the well known fax-spam company Fax.com that has, among other things, a $1.5 trillion dollar lawsuit filed against it and a multi-million dollar fine from the FCC. It appears that the company is going to announce that it has gone out of business, while really moving offices and setting up under a different name. The company, and everyone involved, seem to deny this plan, but the evidence from Wired News (including calling the offices and asking for the current Fax.com VP of marketing and being told he wasn’t in right then) seem pretty damning. Meanwhile, in the regular email spam world, lots of people are talking about yet another plan to offer a paid-for “do not spam” list. While other such plans have been sued for being scams – this one insists it’s legit. The idea is that they’ll pay spammers not to spam you. The problems with such a plan are fairly easy to spot. First off, it won’t stop much spam. Most spammers will keep on spamming away. Second, there’s no guarantee that those who accept the money won’t keep spamming anyway (or just sell your emails on to another spammer). Spammers aren’t known for being particularly honest in their dealings. Furthermore, why the hell should we be paying spammers “protection money” to leave us alone? That is extortion. All it does is encourage more people to spam in order to get in on the bounty. In fact, why don’t I just declare myself a spammer, and take some of this money not to spam anyone? Pay up!