Poll spam sorted

[Uncle Gizmo]

Why is creating a Poll so attractive to a spammer in the first place?

They can add a URL to it...

 

[Isaac]

They can add a URL to it...

Ahh. That makes sense, then.

 

[Deleted member 147267]

Ja, it was a back door to a spam link for diet pills and such.

 

[Isaac]

What the heck, maybe I should try one of those diet pills. They'll probably come shipped through Customs. If they turn out to be MDMA, I'll come back all glowing and let everyone know..
just kidding

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Another thing is that with polls, I think the pollster can get some "live" names - always a good thing for a spammer.

 

[Deleted member 147267]

Yeah, something to be said for not posting your email addy anywhere. Wonder if those who have Access related business going on get Diet Spam?
Now that is just a weird sort of oxymoron if not at least a weird concept.

 

[Isaac]

The life of a spammer/scammer - I mean not just over-reaching marketing, but true scamming, is very fascinating to me. I occasionally advertise used items for sale on Craigslist. Invariably, I start getting scams initiated against my ad. Of course they are ridiculously easy to spot, because they usually involve an obviously web-scraped, robotic reference to my title, such as a text message that reads "Hello, I am interested in your TWO HAND HELD GRASS SEED SPREADERS - LIKE NEW! which you have for sale". And of course, if I (just to amuse myself), take the conversation far enough, I always get met with the "I am being deployed tomorrow, but my movers will pick up the item and pay you an extra 50% by money order for the hassle", or some weirdness like that.
Occasionally, out of fascination or boredom, I keep talking to them for some time, just to see what will happen. Sometimes I say things like "meet me at the corner of 5th and Main at midnight with a suitcase full of $1mm cash", or something stupid like that.
The last time I did that, the guy just responded (MMS text msg) with a short video. It looked like his background was something out of what I imagined might be an Ethiopian market, complete with colorful shaded stands and people holding baskets and barefoot children and such. The video was just about 30 seconds of a young man sort of wildly breakdancing to a song I couldn't understand. It didn't mean much, but I appreciated the scammer giving me a slice-of-life vignette, and told him as much.
I always picture scammers as someone in Somalia or something, huddled over an older computer, buying and selling credit card numbers on the dark web.
Of course, half the time they're just in Florida. But I like the way I imagine it. It's more dramatic

 

[Isaac]

....Diet Spam?
Now that is just a weird sort of oxymoron if not at least a weird concept.

Ha ha, it took me 3 minutes but I got that.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Along the lines of Diet Spam, I have seen low-sodium Spam. But despite the glowing praises sung about Spam (by Monty Python), it has been years since I bothered. Too much fat and connective tissue for my tastes.

 

[Minty]

Too much fat and connective tissue for my tastes.

That's where all the goodness is!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

To others, Minty, but not to me. The fat and connective tissue play havoc with my liver. I am perhaps slightly sugar sensitive such that I must watch my calorie intake, but I am extremely lipid sensitive. Certain things that I used to enjoy cause so much gastric distress that it isn't worth it any more. I am actually improving in that regard based on my most recent round of blood tests but I still don't need to tempt fate.

 

[Minty]

I'm very lucky on that front, I can literally eat anything without any side effects (well aside from noxious gases the following morning after a good curry and a few beers!)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Oddly enough, spicy foods aren't my downfall. Curry and kung pao chicken and banana peppers don't "set me off." But even very bland hummus will pop me every time due to the amount of oil used in the creation thereof. The foods I really miss are pizza (due to the fatty/oily meats and cheeses) and fried seafood. Some restaurants do a good job of draining the seafood before serving it, others do not. So at a new restaurant, I have to look at other people's dishes to check for tell-tale signs of insufficient draining.

The greatest mystery to me is that while I cannot eat "Brother's Fried Chicken" (a southern chain store associated with certain gas & service stations), I somehow CAN eat Popeye's Spicy chicken (in moderation). Better drainage, I guess.

Understand the noxious gases all too well. Wifey made a killing in the stock market by obtaining air freshener stock and then buying that brand in bulk for our house. Trust me, with a bad liver, you take things to a whole new level. We've saved money on fumigating the house, too.