Who is doing this and why?

I have always been amazed at spammers. How can spammers be wasting their time pumping out these annoying emails that no one in their right mind would respond to? There must be a few people responding to make it worthwhile. I always thought maybe 1/10 of a percent. If a spammer sent out 100,000 emails and made 5 cents per response that'd only be $5.00. It didn't make sense -- until today.

The BBC posted an article recently describing results of a poll about spam and responders. I couldn't believe the poll said 10% of people have bought items advertised in spam emails!! In addition to enacting anti-spam legislation, I think spam responders should also be prosecuted.

That changes my estimate of a spammer's profit per email campaign to $500! Hmmmm....did I trash that email message I got about working from home as a spammer?