What's in your junk mail today?

[VanessaC]

I've had some wonderfully creative junk email over the past few weeks and thought it might be fun to share.

The latest round is from a series of people who seem sure I will be able to help them with their new toothbrush venture.

What's your most interesting junk mail?

[Eric Thomson]

I just found an invitation to claim my $50 free chip from the Highway Casino in my spam folder. Usually, it's endless warnings that someone has accessed my FB account. Boring.

[Post-Crisis D]

The latest is contact form spam claiming to be part of a vulnerability scanner and that my host "may be" compromised and I am vulnerable to ransomware.

The most--or one of the most--persistent of spams is one selling an eBook or course for doing woodworking as a business.

[TimothyEllis]

Docusign fraud emails.

Amazon gift card giveaways.

A whole lot of Chinese character emails, and a good number of French ones. I don't read either, so no idea what they are.

SEO websites.

I get about 200+ a day.

[LilyBLily]

I get almost no spam email, but I make up for it in spam phone calls. Our landline provider now helpfully labels many of them "Potential Spam."

Occasionally, a spam caller leaves a message. Car warranties, mythical credit card accounts, and very often a claim from "Tim" that he's looking for real estate and if we have some to sell, get in touch. That last probably isn't a con, but it also isn't likely to produce top dollar if one has acreage to sell. The roads are lined with homemade signs saying "We buy houses for cash!" and those also probably are legitimate but not great deals.

[Maggie Ann]

I get almost no spam email, but I make up for it in spam phone calls. Our landline provider now helpfully labels many of them "Potential Spam."

Me, too. If it's not phone calls to sell me an extended warranty on my car, it's wanting to buy a car that I traded in a long time ago or a car that I bought 3 to 6 months ago.

I read somewhere that the top three shortages we will experience because of the pandemic, are cars, air-conditioners and a/c repairs, and patio furniture.

[Anarchist]

I get almost no spam email, but I make up for it in spam phone calls. Our landline provider now helpfully labels many of them "Potential Spam."

Occasionally, a spam caller leaves a message. Car warranties, mythical credit card accounts, and very often a claim from "Tim" that he's looking for real estate and if we have some to sell, get in touch. That last probably isn't a con, but it also isn't likely to produce top dollar if one has acreage to sell. The roads are lined with homemade signs saying "We buy houses for cash!" and those also probably are legitimate but not great deals.

I have my phone set up to send all calls and texts from numbers not on my contact list into the ether.

Blanket block.

Life is better without the distraction.

[VanessaC]

I get almost no spam email, but I make up for it in spam phone calls. Our landline provider now helpfully labels many of them "Potential Spam."

Occasionally, a spam caller leaves a message. Car warranties, mythical credit card accounts, and very often a claim from "Tim" that he's looking for real estate and if we have some to sell, get in touch. That last probably isn't a con, but it also isn't likely to produce top dollar if one has acreage to sell. The roads are lined with homemade signs saying "We buy houses for cash!" and those also probably are legitimate but not great deals.

Oh, spam phone calls are rife, too, aren't they? I've had various people threatening to disconnect my broadband, saying that the Revenue are suing me for non payment of taxes, and claiming to be Microsoft wanting access to my computer. I just hang up.

[LilyBLily]

Lots of companies send their workers out without a company-identifying phone, so blocking all unknown callers won't work. I honestly don't remember if in the past service people used to call before they showed up, but these days, perhaps because we live in the back of beyond, they always call. Same with doctors' offices. Reminder calls may or may not be automated but they're the paradigm now. They often are from a phone number that is one or two digits off the main number of the medical practice, so okaying the main number would not be enough. Since some of these calls demand that one confirms the appointment, blocking them might automatically cancel it instead. Dunno.

As I understand it, phones were originally considered a terrible breach of privacy. They still can be.

Every once in a while I get a sincere email from some charlatan purporting to be in Africa wanting to share millions of dollars with me, but otherwise my spam filters seem to be very strong. On Facebook, it's a different story. Many stolen photos of men looking for...love? Nah. Probably money.

 

[cecilia_writer]

I've had to stop answering my landline because of all the spam calls. They usually claim to be from my internet provider and try to get me to do something or other with my computer to prove how slow my connection is. But we never get that far as they don't even address me by name but always say 'ma'am', a word we don't tend to use here anyway, and I always tell them I know it's a spam call. But I don't see why I should even pick the phone up for that.
Most of my junk emails are from not very good fake Paypal addresses saying I've been banned from Paypal.

[Matthew]

Most of my junk email is of the same variety: Sex?? You won the lottery! Click here to pick up your package. Generic political message designed to sound like the end of the world. Bank scams. Scams pretending to protect you from scams.

I used to run a small business for a while and would get spam targeted at that. Tons of offers for PR and marketing. An absolute deluge of cold calls trying to sell me some B2B service of little value.

I'm in the Bible Belt in the U.S. so my physical mail is sometimes more interesting. I had someone mail me an unsolicited 100 page book on his conversion to Christianity. Ever since I've moved into my new house, I've had mormons sending me a personalized letter at least once a month, because I never answer my front door (I've been tempted to write back, but I'm not sure I want to encourage an escalation of attention). I've had someone mail me a picture of a prayer mat and claimed that if I used it as a real prayer mat after sending them a donation, god would return my money a hundred-fold.

[LilyBLily]

Just got a handwritten letter this week from some religious fanatic. A presumably sweet little old lady with time on her hands and an evangelical Christian prayer on her lips who encloses some cracked literature, too.

We never answer the spam phone calls. Friends and relatives who enjoy pranks often do and string the callers along, making up fake dialogues to keep the callers on the hook. "Now where did I put my credit card?" and so on.

Picking up these calls simply encourages the bots and gets your number sold to the next set of spammers.

 

[Matthew]

We never answer the spam phone calls. Friends and relatives who enjoy pranks often do and string the callers along, making up fake dialogues to keep the callers on the hook. "Now where did I put my credit card?" and so on.

Picking up these calls simply encourages the bots and gets your number sold to the next set of spammers.

100%. Now in terms of picking up and wasting their time, that's a two way street. The robocalls don't start with humans either so you have to invest a bit before you even start wasting any spammer's time. It is entirely not worth my time to waste theirs.

There used to be a telltale way to tell if a call was spam. I lived in an area with a different area code than my phone number, so if anybody called from my phone number's area code, I knew it was spam. But they got wise to that.

I have an Android phone and it has two related new features from my last one. First, it has call screening. When a call is incoming, you can press a button and have a Google bot ask for the person's name and reason they're calling. If they're not a human, they'll hang up the call. Then you can tap one button to block them. If they are a human, a live transcript of the call appears on your screen (the whole process is silent) so you can decide if you want to pickup or not.

And related to this, they have some methods of determining suspected fake numbers / robocalls and there is an option to do automatic call screening for these numbers where it doesn't even ring your phone unless Google thinks they're a human. It's pretty neat, but I hate it. I really don't like giving all my call history to Google, but because the U.S. government won't do anything to prevent fake numbers and spam, I have to let Google do it instead.

[TimothyEllis]

There used to be a telltale way to tell if a call was spam.

There still is.

When you answer the call, if there is no immediate response to your hello, and then someone comes on the line 10-30 seconds later, then it's a spam call initiated by a computer. Hang up and block.

Computers call a number, wait for it to be answered, then send it to a person. This takes time for the person to pick it up, and in that time, you've got nothing.  It's a dead giveaway.

What I don't like on android phones is after you block one of these numbers, you still get a missed call text after they try again. Like, why do I want to know I missed a call from someone I blocked? Without being told then and there it was blocked, so I have to double check it. Basic stupidity at the programming end.

[Post-Crisis D]

If you're going to send junk mail and use clickbait headlines, maybe, just maybe, you might want to consider staying reasonably current on the news.

Today's spam subject line: "Exposed: This Could End Trump’s Presidency"

[idontknowyet]

I get almost no spam email, but I make up for it in spam phone calls. Our landline provider now helpfully labels many of them "Potential Spam."

Occasionally, a spam caller leaves a message. Car warranties, mythical credit card accounts, and very often a claim from "Tim" that he's looking for real estate and if we have some to sell, get in touch. That last probably isn't a con, but it also isn't likely to produce top dollar if one has acreage to sell. The roads are lined with homemade signs saying "We buy houses for cash!" and those also probably are legitimate but not great deals.

We get non stop spam calls on the land line. It drives me nuts!

[idontknowyet]

We never answer the spam phone calls. Friends and relatives who enjoy pranks often do and string the callers along, making up fake dialogues to keep the callers on the hook. "Now where did I put my credit card?" and so on.

Picking up these calls simply encourages the bots and gets your number sold to the next set of spammers.

100%. Now in terms of picking up and wasting their time, that's a two way street. The robocalls don't start with humans either so you have to invest a bit before you even start wasting any spammer's time. It is entirely not worth my time to waste theirs.

There used to be a telltale way to tell if a call was spam. I lived in an area with a different area code than my phone number, so if anybody called from my phone number's area code, I knew it was spam. But they got wise to that.

I have an Android phone and it has two related new features from my last one. First, it has call screening. When a call is incoming, you can press a button and have a Google bot ask for the person's name and reason they're calling. If they're not a human, they'll hang up the call. Then you can tap one button to block them. If they are a human, a live transcript of the call appears on your screen (the whole process is silent) so you can decide if you want to pickup or not.

And related to this, they have some methods of determining suspected fake numbers / robocalls and there is an option to do automatic call screening for these numbers where it doesn't even ring your phone unless Google thinks they're a human. It's pretty neat, but I hate it. I really don't like giving all my call history to Google, but because the U.S. government won't do anything to prevent fake numbers and spam, I have to let Google do it instead.

Of course they dont wanna get rid of them
They make money from the spammers and now they can charge us to get rid of the spam calls. Win. Win for them.

[Lynn]

I do answer my landline still, but I've had a rule for one hello since I was in my twenties (a loooong time ago ). No one answers immediately or I hear any clicks or hesitation, I hang up. Real people assume you were cut off and call back. Spammers generally do not. I never talk to spam callers anymore. If I suspect spam, I hang up. I don't care if they're in the middle of talking or not. I am under no obligation to listen to a call I didn't initiate.

The truth is real people calling about important stuff know basic phone etiquette. A quick introduction with a full name and a reason for calling. Social small talk and "How are you today" introductions are for actual acquaintances.

[Post-Crisis D]

Today's Spam headline:

Engineering Like Science But Real


So, science isn't real or engineering isn't real or engineering with scientific precision isn't real? 

[Post-Crisis D]

Today:

I am tired of people selling get rich quick schemes!

Blah, blah, blah . . .

Buy into my get rich quick scheme.

[Maggie Ann]

Switch to my Medicare plan. It's the best!

No, mine is the best. Switch to my Medicare plan!

Don't… Absolutely don't… Listen to those two guys! By the way, I can also offer you a great deal on your cars extended warranty.

[LilyBLily]

Text to the cell phone: Want to sell your property?

Uh, no. Where would I go?

[Post-Crisis D]

I always liked the ones that were going to reduce the mortgage . . . on my P.O. box. 

[spin52]

Text to the cell phone: Want to sell your property?

Uh, no. Where would I go?

They really crawl out of the woodwork if you inherit property. They trawl through county records finding where titles have changed hands this way. Then you get the letter or call:
'I'm sorry for your loss and I know this is a stressful time for you so I would be happy to help you sell your house.'

Um, did I say I wanted to sell it? 

[notthatamanda]

Text to the cell phone: Want to sell your property?

Uh, no. Where would I go?

Inventory on houses is so low up in New England they are casting a wide net hoping to find someone. My neighbor in Vermont had 3 people knock on his door winter 2020-2021 and was told to name his price. These were buyers not agents, but agents are just going through whatever means they can trying to find inventory. Houses in my town in Mass were going for 75K to 100K+ over asking in the spring with multiple bidders, I'm talking 30+ bidders per house. I have two friends in my town who sold their houses on a whim, for top dollar, with NO inspection at all. I know of houses that sold based on pictures on the realtor website, again, no inspection. We are in the same boat, no where to go, but if we didn't need the schools anymore we would have probably seized the opportunity too.

[TimothyEllis]

Houses in my town in Mass were going for 75K to 100K+ over asking

That's been going on here for nearly a year now.

I know one example where they had to pay 50k more than they wanted to to get the house, but by the end of settlement, it was worth 100k more than they paid already.

There's a lot of house moving going on in Australia.
People moving back to the cities to live near the families they left behind in the past.
People moving out of the cities so they won't be in the lockdown areas when the next wave hits.

The lockdowns and inability to fly interstate with reliability about getting back has shocked a lot of people. So those who always Christmas with family, but have to travel to do it, have rethought where they live and moved.

[notthatamanda]

It was kind of like that but in the spring here (March-April) it became completely insane with the overbidding and no inspection. Prior to that no one would buy a house with no inspection unless they were planning on tearing it down.

[LilyBLily]

Tempting as this boom is, we're not ready to move from here. We'll have to wait for the next real estate wave, probably a dozen years from now. We sold in 2004 at the top of a boom (and bought a much larger house in a cheaper area). That boom ended in 2008. Prior to that, there was a late 1980s boom that turned into a bust by 1991. It takes several years to ramp up and then bust. I'd expect the bust at any moment now, since inflation is finally happening.

It's ironic, really, because I remember reading all these claims by young people that they would never buy a house, especially one in the suburbs. Yet here they are after all, desperate to buy.

In our rural area, individual spec houses and small developments of under ten houses are springing up, but what I don't see are the For Sale signs on established homes we saw here in 2004. In other words, not everybody is joining the bandwagon. The price for raw acreage remains at $10k. I'd heard at one time during the prior boom it was going for $20k an acre. Much land changing hands. I'm not sure that's happening here. In more suburban areas, I don't know if they've reached the stage we saw back in Massachusetts in the 1980s, where people were madly subdividing their properties and building new homes in what had been their back or side yards.

Bottom line for us is where would we go? If we return to Maryland we'd return to high prices, and we aren't ready to downsize yet. Maybe one should do it before one is ready, but that's a hard call.

Meanwhile, we continue to ignore the spam offers.
   

[notthatamanda]

It depends on the town bylaws in Mass if you can add an extra house or 7 to the property. Developers have been using the affordable housing statute to get around the bylaws since the 2000s boom. The use/abuse of the affordable housing statute by developers is ridiculous. Before anyone jumps down my throat about being against affordable housing, I grew up in subsidized housing and I believe in it. If anyone is interested there is a new development in my town built under the affordable housing statute with houses for 55 and older available starting at $850K US. Rental properties count too, so if anyone wants an apartment built with the affordable housing statute for $3K a month, let me know.

[Post-Crisis D]

If anyone is interested there is a new development in my town built under the affordable housing statute with houses for 55 and older available starting at $850K US. Rental properties count too, so if anyone wants an apartment built with the affordable housing statute for $3K a month, let me know.

$850k or $3k/mo. is considered "affordable"? 

[LilyBLily]

If anyone is interested there is a new development in my town built under the affordable housing statute with houses for 55 and older available starting at $850K US. Rental properties count too, so if anyone wants an apartment built with the affordable housing statute for $3K a month, let me know.

$850k or $3k/mo. is considered "affordable"? 

 

[notthatamanda]

Exactly. The state statute allows for 55 and over or rentals to be counted in the towns affordable housing units, regardless of price or rent. Affordable units for sale are based on the sale prices in the town, I'm not sure if it's median or average or some kind of formula, but an "affordable" 1500 sq ft condo in my town is $350K.

Hence we have builders taking helladvantage of the affordable housing to bypass an individual town's zoning regulations. And to add insult to injury, if any town has less than 25% of it's inventory affordable, they can bypass it as long as 20% of the units they build are "affordable". So every development they build makes the affordable housing count a lower percent than it was.

It's a mess. The housing boom kick started it. Prior to that, back in the 90s, a developer wanted to build a 300 home subdivision, he didn't even bother with the affordable housing because it was more cost effective to build a new elementary school for the subdivision and then the town said okay. Now the town gets no concessions, no considerations for schools, or our other 2 biggest issues, water and waste water. The developer just makes 20% of the project "affordable" and eventually the town has to accept it. They do all sorts of slimy things. They are supposed to limit their profit so their wives or brother in laws buy property and then sell it to them at (in one case) a 2 million dollar markup. Then they keep their profits inline with the statute.

[Post-Crisis D]

"A year ago you came to Russia and I remember you"

Okay, I know spammers just send out massive numbers of messages in order to con a small percentage of recipients, but this one has got to have among the lowest ROI of any, right?  I mean, some spam sells "enhancement" stuff, usually for men and occasionally for women, so they've got about a 50/50 chance either way.  Mortgage spam, I would guess there are some good odds with that too.  Masks, well, you've got some high chances there.  Sheds, probably not the highest but maybe decent.  But targeting single men who have visited Russia a year ago (in the middle of COVID?) for basically mail order (or is it Internet order now?) brides, well, that's got to be some fairly tiny, tiny odds.

[Post-Crisis D]

Another "your [credit card] has been locked" scam message, but I liked how it's addressed:

"Dear costumer,"

I mean, okay, I like Halloween, but I wouldn't describe myself as a costumer. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Another "your [credit card] has been locked" scam message, but I liked how it's addressed:

"Dear costumer,"

I mean, okay, I like Halloween, but I wouldn't describe myself as a costumer. 

I'm not a cosplayer, but if I had a Master Chief costume from Halo, I'd wear the hell out of that thing.  Just saying.