In 2005 I started tracking the amount of spam I get at my personal e-mail address. I got 42,000 pieces of spam that year, and 56,519 this year. On average, that’s 4625 every month, 1067 every week, 152 every day, or 6.3 every hour. On average I got one piece of spam every 9.4 minutes.
It’s a huge pain in the ass, but it’s worse than just a hassle and a waste of server space and bandwidth.
Earlier this year I advertised my Seattle condo for rent. I started pretty high, and every week came down $100. I finally got a renter, for much less than I’d hoped, and then — after I’d signed the contract — found that a number of responses to the ad had been flagged as spam and filed away in my junk folder. Some of these responses looked very promising, and were in response to version of the ad where I was asking $200 to $300 more than what I finally got. So, the spammers may have cost me $3,600 this year.
But I refuse to change my address. I’ve had it for over 10 years. This address has been published in several books, and is in the address books of old friends and potential employers. To change it could cost a great deal more than $3,600.
So, Happy New Year, you asshole spammers. May 2007 be a terrible year for you.
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