BC Technologies - Common Computer Mistakes

BC Technologies
1 North Main Street
Mansfield, PA 16933
(570) 662-7990
sales@bctech.com

Does Opting Out Work?

How many times have you seen either of these messages or something similar at the bottom of a “junk” e-mail?

“To be removed from any further mailing, click here”

“If you do not want to receive further mailings from XYZ Company, unsubscribe by sending an email with the title heading DELETE in the subject line to sales@xyzco.com “

If you’re like most people the answer is probably a lot more than you’d like to admit! Spammers claim that if you would just do this for them, then they promise they won’t send you any more ads! Yeah right!

There are a lot of reasons why opting out doesn’t work, following are the basics:

Why should I Have to Remove Myself from a List I Never Joined?

Think about this; is it right that you should be forced to remove yourself from mailing lists which you never elected to be on in the first place? NO! Even if asking to be removed from future mailings worked – it still isn’t right.

You Still Get Spam.

In order for opting-out to work, you have to receive spam in the first place. Your time, money and energy are being wasted! PLUS those spam emails are using HUGE amounts of bandwidth. That means higher costs of doing business for your Internet Service Provider and that in turn will be passed on to you in the form of higher access fees. Why should you have to pay to receive ads you never asked for in the first place?

So you’re Off THAT Spammer’s List – Now What?

Just because you have some how managed to get removed from one spammer’s list, doesn’t mean that you’re spam-free. There are literally millions of potential spammers out there! Let’s pretend that every one of them will accept remove requests, you’ll be spending the better part of your life removing yourself from each list. This only further ensures that you’ll continue to receive spam.

No Reply Address

Most spam has been forged in some way so that it is very difficult to determine the origin. If you try to just hit “reply”, you will find that the address you are replying to doesn’t exist.

I Removed Myself Already

Let’s assume now that the “remove” address is valid. Spammers are not going to remove you! It is not in their best interest to do so and far easier to simply auto-delete any responses. In addition, some spam emailers simply treat the remove request as verification that your email address is valid and then continue to spam it.

Now you are probably asking yourself, “If opting-out isn’t the solution to the spam problem, what other choice do I have?” As a consumer you have several options. There are spam / junk mail filters, but let’s face it they don’t make the spam go away. If the filter is set by your Internet Service Provider, they have to work harder at sorting the ever growing amount of spam. If they work harder – you pay more. If you use a filter on your email program, then you could be spending days entering key words and phrases. PLUS just when you think there couldn’t possibly be any more.. they start making spelling changes – like replacing the lower case “L” with an upper case “I” or “@” in place of “a”! It IS a never ending process!!!

You could just continue to just delete all the spam from your in box, right? Most spammers will tell you “It’s just an email. Don’t get so worked up!” And yes, this would be true if you were only receiving an occasional spam email. But the last time you received email, how many spam messages did you receive??? 5? 10? 50? And then how many is too many?? The “simple” task of deleting 50 emails has now become a chore and according to a survey conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project 52% of email users trusted email less because of spam. AND 60% had reduced their email usage “in a big way” to avoid the annoying and often offensive spam. The survey also showed why spam could be lucrative. Seven percent of email users said they had ordered a product or service that was offered in an unsolicited email and 33 percent had clicked a link to get more information.

Text Box: Why should I Have to Remove Myself from a List I Never Joined?
Think about this; is it right that you should be forced to remove yourself from mailing lists which you never elected to be on in the first place? NO! Even if asking to be removed from future mailings worked – it still isn’t right.
You Still Get Spam.
In order for opting-out to work, you have to receive spam in the first place. Your time, money and energy are being wasted! PLUS those spam emails are using HUGE amounts of bandwidth. That means higher costs of doing business for your Internet Service Provider and that in turn will be passed on to you in the form of higher access fees. Why should you have to pay to receive ads you never asked for in the first place?
So you’re Off THAT Spammer’s List – Now What?
Just because you have some how managed to get removed from one spammer’s list, doesn’t mean that you’re spam-free. There are literally millions of potential spammers out there! Let’s pretend that every one of them will accept remove requests, you’ll be spending the better part of your life removing yourself from each list. This only further ensures that you’ll continue to receive spam.
No Reply Address
Most spam has been forged in some way so that it is very difficult to determine the origin. If you try to just hit “reply”, you will find that the address you are replying to doesn’t exist.
I Removed Myself Already
Let’s assume now that the “remove” address is valid. Spammers are not going to remove you! It is not in their best interest to do so and far easier to simply auto-delete any responses. In addition, some spam emailers simply treat the remove request as verification that your email address is valid and then continue to spam it.
Now you are probably asking yourself, “If opting-out isn’t the solution to the spam problem, what other choice do I have?” As a consumer you have several options. There are spam / junk mail filters, but let’s face it they don’t make the spam go away. If the filter is set by your Internet Service Provider, they have to work harder at sorting the ever growing amount of spam. If they work harder – you pay more. If you use a filter on your email program, then you could be spending days entering key words and phrases. PLUS just when you think there couldn’t possibly be any more.. they start making spelling changes – like replacing the lower case “L” with an upper case “I” or “@” in place of “a”! It IS a never ending process!!!
You could just continue to just delete all the spam from your in box, right? Most spammers will tell you “It’s just an email. Don’t get so worked up!” And yes, this would be true if you were only receiving an occasional spam email. But the last time you received email, how many spam messages did you receive??? 5? 10? 50? And then how many is too many?? The “simple” task of deleting 50 emails has now become a chore and according to a survey conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project 52% of email users trusted email less because of spam. AND 60% had reduced their email usage “in a big way” to avoid the annoying and often offensive spam. The survey also showed why spam could be lucrative. Seven percent of email users said they had ordered a product or service that was offered in an unsolicited email and 33 percent had clicked a link to get more information.