Hot new stock pick.

[Dana]

As I checked my e-mail this morning, there are the usual two or three new stock recommendations. I blocked the senders as I always do. My question is who are these people sending these and what do they gain by doing this? Is there some kind of a Trojan Horse ridding along or do they recieve compensation if you follow their recommendation?

[Mooseherder]

These are spammers working for some Marketing company. Here is what a good spammer can make.
This Guy at work is bragging about making 50 Grand a month spamming and we won't be seeing him around much longer.
They get paid for each e-mail sent out. (Paid for e-mail addresses)
Something like half cent for each e-mail. These spammers send batches out everyday. Keep blocking them. This will force them to keep buying blocks of IP addresses. I get the same Hot Picks everyday also and block the sender. :D
Then I get annudder da next day. :D  But I made the spammer buy a new IP address to get thru. ;D

[Dana]

I thought they must be making money off this some how. All these spammers can't be that bored without some financial incentive.  :

[Weekend_Sawyer]

This means that someone somewhere actually uses thest "Hot stock picks"
I can't imagine.

Jon

[Mooseherder]

They get paid just for a legitimate e-mail address that goes thru.
The person receiving the e-mail doesn't have to buy anything for them to get paid, just like a Television station running a commercial, all viewers don't purchase the product being hocked.
Looks like the spammer at work is going to land the prized Disney account thru this Marketing Firm. The firm awards this account to the spammer who gets thru to the most e-mail addresses. This is big money for these creeps. These people have Databases with hundreds of thousands of e-mail addresses. I think this is being looked at right now and new laws could change the way Firms are allowed to spam.
When I asked the spammer how I could stop the Hot Stock spam, he asked me to forward it to him. He said those are the best, if they can get thru my server. There is a way for him to get their e-mail lists by hacking. >:(

[Paschale]

I've heard and read that these schemes do it because they work for the buggers who send them.  With sheer volume of number, there are an amazingly high number of gullible people out there, or enough people down on their luck at a given moment that they're willing to try a last desperate grasp at hope.  The people behind the emails actually pick some penny stocks, buy them, send out millions and millions of emails, and it seems that enough gullible people bite so that the stock will rise sufficiently to make money for the senders.

Unethical and disgusting...

[woodbowl]

Keep blocking them. This will force them to keep buying blocks of IP addresses. I get the same Hot Picks everyday also and block the sender. :D
Then I get annudder da next day. :D  But I made the spammer buy a new IP address to get thru. ;D

They get paid just for a legitimate e-mail address that goes thru.

I get the stock emails too, but I don't know how to block them. I recognize them now because the subject sounds so silly. All I know to do is delete them instead of opening them. Is this the same as a block?

[sawguy21]

You actually need to block the sender. The email will show up in your deleted items file automatically. You should empty that file periodically to save disc space.

[woodbowl]

deleted items file

Where is that and how do I do it? Is it something other than email trash, temp internet files or recycle bin?

[wesdor]

Thanks for letting us know they need to be blocked.  I've just deleted them, but if blocking makes them buy a new set of addresses, I'll block them.

I'm totally fed up with this kind of spam.

[beenthere]

Block them if you can, and add them to your spam list if you can.

Just don't respond to them, as that gives them a valid address to work from in their future, be it selling your valid address to others or using it again.  Often they are just fishing (phishing) and trying every combination they can to get something into your inbox.


Recently, they are disguised at being from a business, like Penny's. They offer a discount or something to entice you to respond to the email they send. Some look pretty legitimate, but are not. Just more Spam and a gimmick to get a valid email address.

[Jeff]

Mooseherder, can we please have the name and address and phone number of this guy at work?  ;D

[Mooseherder]

His name is Tom and he is a little overweight. ;D

[Norm]

Better yet what's HIS e-mail address? ;D

[Stephen1]

Woodbowl, if you are using outlook,right click on the e-mail without opening, drop down menue will appear, go to junk e-mail,another drop down menue should appear, click on the add sender to junk e-mail list. 

[Mooseherder]

If you are using Outlook, you can also go to the message menu. The drop down box has Block sender feature.  The tools menu drop down box has a Blocked Senders list you have blocked.

[Furby]

I'll settle for Tom's MI, last name and zip code.

[TexasTimbers]

I get bombarded with them too. But I read in one article online that said if you block them it also verifies them. I think this is bad information. I am blocking the email addresses of someone and the person can't tell that I'm doing so as far as I know.
I wish we had "Sender I.D." so we could get the addy for all these spammers. We could conspire to send 200 emails simulataneously, all full of viruses.

[Quartlow]

Actually blocking them on your email program doesn't do a thing but move it to the trash folder.
As long as your ISP lets it through to you and it doesn't bounce back to them they know they have a good email address.

I can go to my ISP's website and access my email, I can also block them there, when I do that their email is returned to them as undeliverable, no reason why it just tells them it failed. Then they don't know if its good or being blocked by the ISP.  ;)

As for why they send them out, its called pump and dump. They buy some of the stock they are promoting. IF they get enough people to buy it the stock price rises and they then dump their stock back to the market making a profit. Of course as soon as they dump it the this causes the price to decline and your stuck with a worthless stock

[Dana]

Quartlow. Often the days mail has two or three senders promoting the same stock are you saying they are all buying and selling the same stock? Or is it one person with multiple e-mail addresses /identities?

[Quartlow]

Dana, could be several people working together, or one with multiple email address's. I heard about it from a friend

CBS news article

Usa today article

GooglePump and dump search

[stonebroke]

I have att and I have never gotten a spam. Is it luck or is it att?

[farmerdoug]

I use to read them once in a while and then watch the stock to see the price bump and dump.  It is funny because if you look at the price when you get the email it already has jumped.  To me this is a red flag as it means that the investing is already there and waiting for a sucker to bite.

Farmerdoug

[logwalker]

They may be targeting stocks that have already gotten a little bump for some reason. It would look to an interested party like there was a lot of interest in the stock. This scheme would cycle in just a few days time. Joe

[pigman]

I'm too smart to pay any attention to hot stock tips from any source. Back when I was in school someone told me to invest in some Berkshire Hathaway stock. The stock was high at the time and I just knew it was a fly by night company and the stock would crash in a short time.  ;D I did my own investigating and put my money in that great company Enron. We all know that energy companies are a good investment. ;)

Bob the smart investor