No one warned me of the side effects


I have discovered that one of the unfortunate side effects of opening my new Patreon account is the flood of new spam. I opened up my email this morning and had to scroll down a couple of screens worth to get to anything that matters from people I know.

What’s worse is that it isn’t even interesting, entertaining spam. It’s the dregs of internet advertising: insurance, online gambling, and Indian lottery tickets. I’m going to have to work on training my filters again.

Comments

  1. markgisleson says

    Apologies. I only forwarded that stuff because I thought it looked interesting.

    Should I stop signing you up for free stuff as well?

  2. Sean Boyd says

    I keep multiple email accounts for that purpose. My standard day-to-day account, one I keep private save for a select few people, one I use for social media, one for work, etc.. It makes it easier (say on the private account) to whitelist those who know it and automagically dump everything else.

  3. billseymour says

    Sean Boyd @2

    I keep multiple email accounts …

    I have only one actual account, but I have two e-mail addresses at pobox.com, an e-mail redirection service (out of Australia, IIRC). One I give out to the world (including Freethought Blogs and an Amtrak-related e-mail list) that I expect to attract lots of spam, and another that I use only in connection with an ISO standards committee that I participate in. Lately, my (not really) secret address is getting almost as much spam as the public one. It started after I booked passage on the Queen Mary 2 in November (for actual transportation, not for the cruise experience). I’m now getting tons of spam from folks who want me to take more cruises, which I have no desire to do.

  4. tacitus says

    It’s the dregs of internet advertising: insurance, online gambling, and Indian lottery tickets

    That’s what happens when they get a whiff of those Patreon millions…