wtf with the spamm?

[[Unknown]]

They do it because it's cheap to do. They're either paying almost nothing to starving people in third world countries, tricking people trying to watch porn into bypassing captchas for them, or using automated bots. But any of these ways, the marginal cost is almost nothing. Because it costs them nothing they have no sense of "spending wisely."

Why bother posting only on relevant forums for $0.01 when you could post on irrelevant forums also for $0.01?

Think of it this way: Suppose you had to sell your car, and needed the money quick to cover emergency costs. Let's say you had the option for 50 people to see your car for sale, or for 50,000 people to see it... at no cost to you either way, no difference in the price the car would sell for, etc... would you pick 50? No? Neither would spammers.

And really, when you're just hoping to trick someone, you're not really after relevant forums - you're after gullible people. The theory is, you can find gullible people anywhere. So there's no irrelevant forum - not for scams. Everywhere has some percentage chance of having a mark.

Of course, a reputable business doesn't work this way. They see value in putting their message in front of the right people, having dignity in their brand, etc. They're after the long-term reward of spending extra time and money restricting the message to the right people.

-[Unknown]