Comments on: Why Kieron Jackson?

Question: Why Kieron Jackson?

The Deej — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:25:12 -0800

Why do I get so much spam addressed to "Kieron Jackson"?

I have Googled and Snoped. It's mostly prescription spam, but also mortgages and loans. I am not asking how to filter it, that's not the issue. Almost all my spam gets filtered, but it's amazing how much of it is "attention Kieron Jackson." Is it some of kind of spammer's trick? Does anyone else get this? (Oh, and sorry to prevent a good joke response, but, no my name is not Kieron Jackson.)

By: JohnnyGunn

JohnnyGunn — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:42:50 -0800

I do not get the Kieron Jackson spam, but over 70% of the spam I get is addressed to Steve Ford. My name is not Steve Ford. Not even close. I own a Ford, but c'mon.

I am very curious as to the answer myself. Thank you for asking.

By: Malor

Malor — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:28:09 -0800

It's because, sometime back, an unethical person got your email address, and didn't have your name. So he made up a name, and sold the address/name pairing to one or more spammers.

Spammers share lists, so now everyone in the world thinks there's a "Kieron Jackson" at your email address.

It's actually very convenient, because it gives you a near-perfect filter term for your anti-spam system.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:24:39 -0800

(Interesting. So if Malor's right, the culprit is a doubly unethical person. He sold you out to the spammers, and he sold the spammers bad information.)

By: drstein

drstein — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:54:08 -0800

Spammers just put %FIRST_NAME %LAST_NAME into emails to try to bypass filters. It's nothing personal, they're just populating variables from lists of potential first names and last names.

I got those variables from some spam software that didn't do its job - the spammer never bothered to fill them in.

By: baylink

baylink — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:27:09 -0800

Michael Rinehart, for me. Lots, from different senders.

By: troybob

troybob — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:58:17 -0800

i think it's because spam transcends the boundaries of alternate universes (universi?), and i suspect your name in one such alternate universe is Kieron Jackson...the first thing i would do is ask my mom if she ever dated or almost made out with a Jackson boy...

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 17:25:17 -0800

Brittany Zella for me. Always wondered about that. Great Question.

By: AuntLisa

AuntLisa — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 17:28:45 -0800

Antonio Irizarry for me.