Spammers have much more money than the regular user because spamming is profitable. Money doesn't help that much.
Discussion
I would test that... are they profitable? Mere existence is not proof of sustainability. The bots we see may be largely those who imagine it will be one day be profitable, neophytes and unemployables desperately trying the ethically unjustifiable get rich quick schemes. It could be that the profitable spam accounts for some tiny portion of it. Everywhere else we see targeted advertising reign; it appears to have proven more efficient.
See: Political Consultants Radio Advertising, Financial Management
The disparity in expertise between the 'expert' and the layman allows for the industry to span decades despite providing no provable benefit. The perceived benefit - the myth - is enough. 'Advertisers still put a billion a year of advertising into radio!' Yeah, and also into Madame Cleo's Psychic Hotline. 'How should I get elected?' ... 'Put out costly mailers no matter what the post office charges and ignore the internet!'
Spamming is an entry level position, I assume requires only an email address and time, allowing the entire world to participate, most of whom are desperate and of a worldview that money is unjustly distributed (success at spamming would be ethical redistribution, to some). These and other delusions correlated with unwise behaviors make it worth testing whether spamming is an industry that is beyond its usefulness rather than profitable generally.
I’d say proof of humanity != proof of not spammer
Solving the second one should be much easier
There are spamming accounts now using AI to reply to posts in ways that look like a human but in a way that fosters their agenda.
The spam we saw until now it child's play. What's coming is much harder.
Does reporting help in any way or is it a waste of time?
It always helps. Your relays can use to tag spammers.
So it begins. We use AI to filter it out / reduce it. It won’t be easy. But in the long run something like the following can be used even if AI matches human ability online. Any long term solution that tries to rely on proof of humanity will fail while something like the following still has value:
AI tools + WoT + WoT based reporting / reputation + micro payments / PoW
It’s all actors. How do you distinguish against the bad actors and the good ones? Human or AI?
We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of WoT based solutions and micro payments
Spammers usually send a big number of messages so I wouldn't ensure they can afford it if they have to pay for every single message... I would also add that If the message is mark as spam the person who received it should keep the money... This would filter other bad habits as well