Type Dirty To Me Issue #30

My job as a spammer

By Ashley Harris
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 11:07am

Streak is a spammer. He has been relying on his spam job, which he does from home, as his sole income for the past few years. I met him at a bar last winter when I was broke and just out of grad school, drowning my sorrows over a $2 PBR. I had asked the bartender if she knew anyone in the area hiring waitresses when this guy in his early 20s with bleach-streaked hair turned to me from his stool to ask, “How desperate are you?”

“I have no idea how I’m going to pay next month’s rent,” I said.

“Well,” he replied, “I have something. It’s not glamorous, but I could get you a paycheck in a couple weeks.”

Ever amused by seediness and perversity, my friends and I took shots of whiskey to celebrate my new job as a spammer.

Cloaked in a demeanor of cool reserve that I hoped resembled that of women who claim to derive empowerment through work in the sex industry, I headed to Streak’s apartment for my training session. It was two in the afternoon when he offered me a rum and coke in a tumbler. “This is my third already today!” he said. His skinny roommate also spammed professionally to put himself through school. We settled into the poster-infested bachelor pad to go over the ropes.

“The hardest part of the job,” Streak said, “is dealing with the boredom. It’s all about output. The more you work, the more money you can make.” And the money was enticing — potentially $600 a week for part-time spammers. “Most of the people who do this job are guys who would be sitting around their apartments all day anyway. You are our first girl.”

This particular spamming job was to create profiles to be posted on adult Web sites, which would then redirect interested parties to webcams that cost money to view. Though technically legal, this type of spamming employs trickery similar to that of illegal spamming. The profiles were of women, between 18 and 35 years old, who had signed up to meet men for fun and sex. They were to be as general as possible, whilst suggestive, in order to appeal to as large a demographic as possible. Information regarding race, body modifications, education, or religious background were best omitted. Aside from constantly resetting the computer so the spammer’s location cannot be traced, the bulk of the job was writing narratives to fill out the “About Me” and “What I’m Looking For” sections. Here is an example of a winning narrative:

I just finished school so I don't want anything too serious but I have a nice body and I want to show it off while I'm still young. I love Sex and the City, dancing with my friends, drinking margaritas and getting it on!

My expectations are not too high but I want to be treated right. I am looking to have a good time with someone who can make me laugh and make me wet!

Photos found on amateur porn sites served as the women’s “headshots,” though there were as many close-ups of body parts as there were faces. My first question regarding the pictures was whether photos of large- or small-breasted women got more hits, to which Streak shrugged, “Boob size doesn’t make that big of a difference. The bent-over shots are the ones that really bank.” He proceeded to show me his personal collection of favorite photos, reading the titles such as “RedheadAssBang,” aloud and giggling. I began to get a bit grossed out as I suspected Streak was getting off on exposing a real live girl to the dirty pictures.

Putting the profiles together, I wondered whether it was possible that the men viewing them could actually believe the women are real or that they’d have an opportunity to meet them in person. As it turns out, a hefty portion of the sales come from outside the U.S. As Streak says, “for an outsider to any community, the digital realm is easier to navigate and approachable.” Furthermore, a single strand of believability can be enough to hook a potential sale. A profile about an attractive 35-year-old divorcee “just getting back into the dating scene” proves very successful.
Yet surely many viewers suspect or quickly become aware that the women are fake but still follow through to buy webcam memberships. The ratio is higher than expected, with one in seven clicks resulting in a sale. To explain this, Streak notes that a little attention, no matter how disingenuous, can feel better than none at all. Even a brief moment of feeling desired is desirable. Spammers profit from Valentine’s Day, for example, when loneliness is especially pronounced. There’s something undeniably sad about this fact, though not necessarily surprising. I was initially hesitant to reinforce a sexually charged but otherwise vapid image of women. But exploiting a real person’s emotional vulnerability was ultimately more disturbing. Unlike Streak, my stint as a “cyber pimp” lasted only a week.