• by March 11, 2004

Question of the day: Why do spammers spam?

Question two: What is the psychology of spamming?

Spammers are more often than not wily opportunists posing as legitimate businesspeople. They distribute a torrent of email with misleading subject headers that many of us feel compelled to open because the messages look legit and frankly, because if we don't, we think we might be missing something. And then there are the messages with subject headers that are obviously junk, well, at least to me. They tease recipients with offers for low-interest mortgages and financial schemes, cut-rate Viagra, hot girl videos, and other stuff. The headers with "Opinion Requested" and the like, that ended up being part of that big West African spam scam have stopped coming. Now watch, as I say that, they'll probably start up again.

I have a vision in my head of spammers running junkmail pyramid schemes, operating out of dank, moldy basements with rickety computer equipment. But the reality is, spam rings are probably much more sophisticated than that, and some spam comes from legitimate marketers that aren't running their operations properly and are certainly not in compliance with the new Can-Spam Act. Spammers are clever and cunning, continuously modifying their addresses and messages in order to slip through filters. Their messages come via offshore computers riddled with viruses.

I'm not sure any amount of filtering or technology will eradicate the "scourge" of spam entirely, but yesterday's move by the four major U.S. Internet Service Providers is a step in the right direction. Maybe their joint lawsuits will make a difference, at least in terms of PR.

But I still wonder why spammers spam. If they're really making so much dough from spamming, why don't we all do it?