I have 3 AOL email accounts I read on different browsers just to keep them separate. One, I almost never use, so spammers haven't found it yet. The other two get about a dozenspans each day. They crack me up! They are relentlessly repetitive, yet also inapplicable to me. Most regard cancelling services I do have, tell me I have viruses that I can't have, or try to sell products I can barely imagine anyone would need.
And they tell me these same messages multiple times a day. You would think the spammers would organize a bit and create a database.
So I decided to make a list...
1. They advise me my Netflix, Sirius radio, Sam's Club, Best Buy, Costco, and some other businesses are being cancelled. I don't have any of those.
2. They advise me my Windows computer is infected. I have a Mac.
3. They advise me they can fix my Erectile Dysfunction problem. How would they know if I had that?
4. They promise to advise me on "the healthiest diet". I probably know more about nutrition than they do.
5. They tell me the IRS has rejected my [edited to correct] 2023 tax form. I haven't filed yet (it is on extension).
6. And apparently I'm behind on my natural gas bill. But I'm 100% electric.
AOL has a feature I discovered some months ago that allows me to click on "all" and then "delete and block senders". I'm sure most email providers offer the same. But it doesn't stop the spammers. I suppose they just create new email addresses every day.
I don't know about any of you and your email-sending volume, but I read an idea last year that I wish would be passed into law or regulations. The idea was that every email you send would cost you 1 cent. I can't imagine that many regular emailers would care. But it could destroy the mass spammers.
It sure wouldn't make any difference to me (AOL could charge me a couple dollars annually), but 100,000,000 pennies might put most spammers out of business. I doubt it would harm a legitimate tax-paying business (tax write-off).
Foreign spammers might be harder to enforce that against, but perhaps the email companies could be required to charge for new email addresses. I haven't changed mine in 15 years and you probably haven't either, so that probably wouldn't affect most people. I mean, we all get locked in to our email addresses so our friends don't lose track of us, the user names on sites are usually the email address, and it is just annoying to change them.
Just something to think about...
