I once received an email from Apple outlining a purchase I apparently made. When I saw it I was extremely confused, as I had not bought anything from the App store in a long time. As I opened the email my eyes went straight to the $479.50!!!
I did not even look at any other detail that would suggest this email was in fact SPAM, and I freaked out. Checked my bank account and nothing was taken out. Now even more confused, I looked back to the email and noticed it wasn’t billed to my address, it was billed to an address in the United States! It them immediately entered my mind, “just another spam email”.
According to the Spam Act 2003, spam is defined as irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising. You know that spam filter on your emails? That’s what we call an authenticating protocol, developed by internet administrators as a response to spam. They created this because we have become so exposed to spam emails that they need a designated place to go!
An article by Justin Rao and David Reiley called the Economics of Spam highlights supplementing current technological anti-spam efforts with lower-level economic interventions in the spam supply chain, such as legal intervention in payment processing, or even “spam-the-spammers” tactics. Email spamming has evolved over the years, advertising so many different varieties of products that are bound to tempt consumers and catch them up in traps.
So, with the Spam Act 2003 in place, it ensures that Australia is legally protecting its consumers against the painful emails that are sent daily. However, this act does not stop the rest of the world from bombarding us!
What are your thoughts on spam? Have you ever mistakenly fallen for a spam tactic? Or do you know straight away when you’re looking at spam?
Z/V 
I honestly think spam is ethically wrong however it still happens. I think spammers are getting smarter and smarter so you aren’t seeing anymore princes or princesses wanting to transfer you money, or people in a crisis who ask for your bank details. I have never fallen for any spam but there are people that are vulnerable such as those who are lonely or our grandparents who may sadly fall for these tactics. Great read Zoe!
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts Michelle! Yes! The ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ campaign was iconic!! I still remember the song, and I often think of it while I am standing at the platform waiting for the train to go to uni! Proof that IMC campaigns can be so powerful and create such a buzz for a company!
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Great read Zoe! I feel like we’re faced with spam almost every day and as more time goes on, we are getting better at identifying it! The latest one I personally experienced is the sms’s from Clive Palmer which simply prove that it really isn’t a successful marketing tactic!
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I received those too Sophie! They were extremely annoying and invasive. I have no idea how they managed to get a hold of my personal phone number which had me concerned. I definitely did not view this as a successful marketing tactic either, if anything it put me right off!
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Interesting read Zoe! I personally have never fallen for a spam email, though I have checked by hovering over hyperlinks to see what the address the spam is trying to take me to just to make sure on a few (like apple ones). I don’t think spam is right, theres so many vulnerable people out there, like older generations that are unfamiliar with technology, that get fooled into them. Similarly the spam phone calls too.
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Thanks Jacqui! I’m glad to hear you’ve never personally fallen for spam emails! It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to decipher whether something is spam or not nowadays. I agree, there are so many vulnerable people that unless you know what you are looking for, or you have downloaded a software to help fight off the spam, many people can find themselves victims to these sorts of emails!
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I would receive 250 spam emails a day if not for specific software I must now pay for to weed this nuisance out. It annoys me that I must do so but like many others, I must now pay for the spammers intrusion into my life.
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250 spam emails a day!! That is a shockingly high number Joel! I agree with you, it isn’t fair that we have to cop the brunt of weeding out all these disruptive emails, however with technology rapidly changing its unfortunately something we just have to do.
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SPAM will never ever be accepted and if people like it then they need to get their priorities straight! I’m so glad a lot of our software has integrated filtering systems to automatically send SPAM to junk! Not only does it save us the hassle to go through and delete them but it gives us an easy way to identify what is and isn’t spam content. Good read!
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Completely agree Holly! I occasionally look at my junk folder and it is just FULL of spam!! It’s crazy how fast spam is evolving, but as long as consumers know what to look out for then hopefully most people won’t be fooled!
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Whilst receiving spam is frustrating, I find the scarier thought to be where they received my email address from in the first place. Companies can legally sell your email address to spammers if stated that they will do so in their privacy policy. So unfortunately, unless you’re actively reading these legal documents, any website or service that requires your email address could potentially sell on your information. With this in mind, maybe it’s not just the spammers we need to be concerned about, but also the legitimate companies we think we can trust?
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