Want a rolex? Check your spam folder.

Around Christmas time, one of the most common, if not the most common type of spam is rolex watch spam.  Spammers from all around the world spam our inboxes advertising knock-off replica watches.  Breitling, Rolex, Tag... I am surprised that I managed to name so many.  Prior to starting this position all I had ever heard of was Rolex (spam analysts don't get paid much money so we can't afford to go shopping for real watches and hence get familiar with the actual brand names that way).

For the most part I never really pay attention to this spam because (a) it's irritating and clogs up the email, and (b) I had always assumed that the quality was lousy anyways.  For example, I'd always thought that these things were of lousy quality and would break if somebody looked at the funny.  However, the other week I saw the movie The DaVinci Code and in it, the two main heroes escape from a bank in the back of an armoured truck while the bank manager, impersonating a driver, takes them away.  Just before leaving, he is questioned by a police officer who asks him “Do all drivers wear Rolexes?”

The manager weasels his way out of interrogation by replying “What, this piece of garbage? I got it at a replica place for $40! It's yours for $35!” I thought that was a humourous line because I deal with replica nonsense all the time. I still think that these spam products are all mostly scams (ie, a method of getting people to part with their money by promising products in exchange for money but never delivering) or the quality is extremely lousy. But on the other hand, given that so much watch spam occurs, people must actually pay for this stuff if spammers keep advertising it over and over. Of course, I have no intention of ever finding out because I have seen so much fake watch spam I automatically ignore it.