I deal with an enormous amount of spam emails in my work and have a keen interest in the ever-changing strategies spammers use to try and trick the unwary.

Some of my favourites are the subject lines they use to slip past filters and entice people to read their crap

About last night (real meaning: I sat up sending millions of emails to people who don’t want them)

Confirm your purchase (real meaning: why not buy something useless from me)

Mail service disabled (if only yours was)

Should we buy alcohol? (obviously)

Fax spam = low tech spam

A little-known low tech spam variant is fax spam. It obviously costs a hell of a lot more to fax spam 50,000 people than to email spam them but I still get  occasional bit of fax spam.

Got a great one today showing some, ahem, classy form. It was for printing (the most common type of fax spam I get, along with fax spam about printer cartridges and the occasional holiday specials) but used the clever/extremely transparent trick of including a couple of fake handwritten messages to make the receiver think it had been passed on by an old friend.

I have tried them. Price and quality great. They faxed me their new prices and I got their sample pack. Thought you would be interested. D x.

and

FAXED THIS THE OTHER WEEK. DID YOU GET IT. PRICES ARE GREAT.

Keeping a bet both ways though was also what I assume was meant to be a comforting message

THIS IS MEANT TO INFORM NOT OFFEND

and a fax and email I could contact in the unlikely event I would like to not receive any further spam.

Thanks D, kisses to you too.

I spend a lot of my time at work trying to ‘get through’ email and I have a few pet hates which can make doing so very time consuming. Little things, but each one can add another couple of minutes to dealing with each email. Here’ s my list of top 5 annoyances…

1. Not having your phone number in your email signature

Obvious really. Of course I’ve probably got your number somewhere else but it means digging around to find your details, by which time I’ve probably forgotten what I’m calling you about.

2. Phone numbers without spaces

Maybe it’s just me but I find it really hard to dial a number I’m reading from a screen when it’s written

0484354843

and really easy when it’s

0484 354 843

3. Not setting your email program to include the message you’re replying to when you reply to emails

The email comes through

“OK, please go ahead”.

With what? It may have been three days, 79 emails and 14 phone calls since sending the one you’re replying to. Means I then have to go into my email program’s sent folder and find the previous email to make sense of the message.

4. Sending an email every time you have an  idea, no matter how small

Instead of waiting until you’re clear about the topic and sending once concise email with the whole story, decisions made. I have a few clients who do this, changing their mind on something 12 times and sending me an email every time.

5. Not putting a subject line on emails

1. Means what you’re saying can’t be grasped from a quick view
2. If I have to refer back to your correspondence later or search for it finding it is going to take twice as long.

Cognitive Load

All of these things make me think of my (limited) understanding of cognitive load theory

understanding how many discrete units of information can be retained in short term memory before information loss occurs (Wikipedia)

because of all of the extra things that I need to do which clog up my brain before I can actually work out what the email sender wants.

(It’s my understanding that cognitive load theory has mostly been used to try and design more effective teaching materials. I know I’m odd but I find it fascinating).