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Two years spent spamming spammers back

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Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#51

Post by timbowhite »

grecy wrote: post #36
bigdubs wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously not the same but I've had this happen in a couple places and I just say "FUCK OFF" as loud as I can and get visibly upset and they leave me alone after that.

....That's a horrible way to react. I wonder what these people think about you and your country of origin. You are, after all, an ambassador for your country when ever you are outside it.

Are you being serious?

> I wonder what these people think about you

If they're acting at all as GP described, then it's obvious they see you as another mark to aggressively try to extract money from.

Caring about what some bothersome strangers think about you and where you're from takes a distant backseat to standing up to aggression.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#52

Post by chrisan »

bigdubs wrote: post #37
grecy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

....That's a horrible way to react. I wonder what these people think about you and your country of origin. You are, after all, an ambassador for your country when ever you are outside it.

It's not my first reaction, it's not something I do when I'm traveling, but it's either be slightly loud and aggressive or just suffer in silence. I chose the former.

Having just returned from a trip to England, whenever we were in touristy areas we saw a very high increase in the level of aggressiveness/pushiness while waiting in queues with certain foreign cultures.

At first we suffered in silence, thinking "well that's just the way they behave in their country", but towards the end we were very direct and to their face when being rude to finally get them to stop.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#53

Post by grecy »

timbowhite wrote: post #51
grecy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

....That's a horrible way to react. I wonder what these people think about you and your country of origin. You are, after all, an ambassador for your country when ever you are outside it.

Are you being serious? > I wonder what these people think about you If they're acting at all as GP described, then it's obvious they see you as another mark to aggressively try to extract money from. Caring about what some bothersome strangers think about you and where you're from takes a distant backseat to standing up to aggression.

> Are you being serious?

I am.

I'm the guy who wrote the story, maybe I did a bad job. It's not like they're getting violent or "trying to extract money from me" - jeez, when you do buy something you can just hold out a handful of money and they'll take the right amount - extremely, extremely honest.

In reality, they're just trying to sell their stuff, I don't understand why someone would react by yelling and getting angry.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#55

Post by codingdave »

Sure, great idea, funny and clever and all that.

But I disagree with the idea that inboxes are sacred, and disagree with the attitude of "how dare people send marketing to me!" Fraudulent spam is one thing. Plain old marketing or sales cold calls, though... you know people are going to do it. It is their job. And I'd much rather get emails than I can quickly delete and ignore vs. phone calls. And once in a while, someone actually hits on a service that is useful to me.

So I don't think the real-life scenario of people badgering you outside the door is accurate. The better metaphor would be one comparing your inbox to your actual mailbox. Sure, junk mail is annoying and most of it gets thrown out. But sometimes that restaurant down the street does send coupons.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#56

Post by timbowhite »

grecy wrote: post #53
timbowhite wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you being serious? > I wonder what these people think about you If they're acting at all as GP described, then it's obvious they see you as another mark to aggressively try to extract money from. Caring about what some bothersome strangers think about you and where you're from takes a distant backseat to standing up to aggression.

> Are you being serious? I am. I'm the guy who wrote the story, maybe I did a bad job. It's not like they're getting violent or "trying to extract money from me" - jeez, when you do buy something you can just hold out a handful of money and they'll take the right amount - extremely, extremely honest. In reality, they're just trying to sell their stuff, I don't understand why someone would react by yelling and getting…

Hmm different strokes I suppose, but I'd definitely interpret that behavior as aggression.

Out of curiosity, if they weren't trying to sell you anything, but were behaving like that (hissing/kissing/blocking your path), do you think getting angry would then be an appropriate response?

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#57

Post by CapitalistCartr »

grecy wrote: post #53
timbowhite wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you being serious? > I wonder what these people think about you If they're acting at all as GP described, then it's obvious they see you as another mark to aggressively try to extract money from. Caring about what some bothersome strangers think about you and where you're from takes a distant backseat to standing up to aggression.

> Are you being serious? I am. I'm the guy who wrote the story, maybe I did a bad job. It's not like they're getting violent or "trying to extract money from me" - jeez, when you do buy something you can just hold out a handful of money and they'll take the right amount - extremely, extremely honest. In reality, they're just trying to sell their stuff, I don't understand why someone would react by yelling and getting…

Because it works. Its simply experimenting with different reactions until achieving the desired effect. I want to communicate disinterest in buying from street vendors. I try various forms/styles of communication until I accomplish my goal. I've had this problem in the USA, and merely looking unfriendly is often sufficient. In your situation, that's clearly inadequate.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#58

Post by maksimum »

the_duke wrote: post #44

Hilarious idea. But one of the first things I would have coded is preventing the same message to be sent again. The examples are full of that.

You could consider repeat messages as adding insult to injury. For example you can see in the 24-message conversation with the SEO company, that repeat messages seem to aggravate the spammers.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#59

Post by enraged_camel »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #57
grecy wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you being serious? I am. I'm the guy who wrote the story, maybe I did a bad job. It's not like they're getting violent or "trying to extract money from me" - jeez, when you do buy something you can just hold out a handful of money and they'll take the right amount - extremely, extremely honest. In reality, they're just trying to sell their stuff, I don't understand why someone would react by yelling and getting…

Because it works. Its simply experimenting with different reactions until achieving the desired effect. I want to communicate disinterest in buying from street vendors. I try various forms/styles of communication until I accomplish my goal. I've had this problem in the USA, and merely looking unfriendly is often sufficient. In your situation, that's clearly inadequate.

>>Because it works.

So does spam. That's why spammers keep sending it.

Does that mean it's OK? Clearly not.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#60

Post by adekok »

bigdubs wrote: post #34
grecy wrote: post #27

> Imagine if this type of thing happened in real-life. You walk out the door in the morning and you’re immediately attacked by Parul, Kevin, and Amelie. I laughed out loud at this, because it's exactly what I'm experiencing now in West Africa. Street vendors are aggressive about selling whatever they have, and they seem to assume I want it - almost like I owe it to them to buy it - I'm not sure if it's because I'm Wh…

Obviously not the same but I've had this happen in a couple places and I just say "FUCK OFF" as loud as I can and get visibly upset and they leave me alone after that.

I've done the same with similar people in Europe. If they don't understand a polite but firm "No", and keep bugging me, then a firm "FUCK OFF" is what they deserve.

Oddly, I've never had any animosity returned. Just a shrug of "Oh well, I tried".

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