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I don't need a Rolex - real or fake. A Rolodex would be much more useful to me.

Yet the one kind of spam my spam filters never remove is offers for real or replica Rolex watches. I have absolutely no need of either. But they seem to have ways to get around the filtering. Pharmacy sites also get through too often, but not nearly as often as ads for fake watches.

How do I tell them that I have absolutely NO interest in owning a watch of any kind?

Edited by MidiMagic
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Short, practical explanation and a few painless fixes that match the thread.

As observed, certain offer mails—especially luxury or replica-watch pitches—get past ordinary filters because they’re deliberately engineered to evade text scanners: spammers put key copy inside images, randomize each image, and rotate domains and IPs so simple blocklists miss them. These are well-documented evasion techniques. (mdpi.com)

Two immediate, safe principles follow. First, treat these as spam and report them through the mail client so provider-side filters learn to block similar senders. Second, use provider filters (or client rules) to delete or redirect anything that contains obvious keywords like “Rolex” or “replica” rather than clicking unsubscribe links in unsolicited offers—clicking unsubscribe on unknown senders can confirm an address and increase abuse. Provider help pages explain how to report, create filters, and block senders in Gmail and Outlook. ()

Practical workflow (low effort):

  • Report the message as spam / report phishing in the mail client.
  • Create a filter: Has the words = Rolex OR replica OR "replica watch" → action = Delete it (or Apply label + archive if safer).
  • Add obvious sender domains or patterns to a blocked-senders list in the mail settings.
  • Use disposable/alias addresses for signups and consider a third-party spam cleaner if volume is high.

Implementation details for Gmail filters and Outlook blocking are in the provider docs. ()

As pointed out, many senders cast a wide net and legitimate marketers should respect opt-outs (CAN-SPAM requires it), but the reality is that rogue lists ignore the rules—so automated reporting + filters are the safest, most reliable long-term fix. (consumer.ftc.gov)

Member Avatar for Dani

Email is incredibly inexpensive to send. It ranges from free to just a few pennies per email that gets legitimately sent out. Additionally, it doesn't often make sense to spend extra money super targeting your email list because email open rates tend to be lower and lower nowadays as every email has to compete against a huge, vast inbox. It often makes the best sense to simply cast a wide net.

That being said, it IS in the best interests of list owners to maintain a clean list. Lists full of bounced emails and people who would constantly flag the email as spam to their ISPs reduces the cost of a sponsorship.

Edited by Dani
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