CallerComplains.Com

Even though I am registered with the Do-Not-Call list, I still periodically get a call from an unknown number which turns out to be an unsolicited sales call. (Usually in Spanish, for some reason.) I typically use Google to try and track down these numbers, but now there is a new website that can be of more direct help. The Website CallerComplaints.Com is a free site where consumers aggregate their experiences with Do-Not-Call Scofflaws so that the rest of us can know who left that unanswered call number on our caller id. Click on over and check it out the next time you are not sure who is calling.

Pay Per E-Mail

One of the reasons that spam and e-mail scams are profitable is because of the low overhead cost. The number of responses needed for a return on investment is less than 1%. (Somewhere I seem to remember it's around 0.01%.) Wired has up an article about a company named Goodmail that for a quarter of a cent per message will verify the message allowing it to bypass ISPs filters. (This requires the ISP to be using the Goodmail technology). For a broadcast of 5,000,000 e-mails, it will cost the sender $12,500. Using the 0.01% response rate, that means that out of 5,000,000 e-mails, there will be 500 responses for a cost of $25 per responder. Will this stop spam or scams? I doubt it. I'm guessing most spammers and all scammers will make at least $25 off of a responders. Supposedly, if a company hasn't been in business over a year or they have a number of spam complaints, Goodmail will not take their money, but I suspect that spammers and scammers will find ways around it.