Dec
16

Fuddruckers: Asking a Spamtrap to “Like” Them on Facebook

Fuddruckers, a high-end hamburger restaurant in the United States, is sending bulk email to an email address that has not belonged to a real person since 2007, offering the owner of that email address the chance to win a $500 gift card for “liking” Fuddruckers on Facebook. The email indicates that this email address “recently registered with a network website to receive special online offers”. This is not true for any reasonable definition of “recently”. Either Fuddruckers is allowing users to subscribe via a web form and is not confirming subscriptions, or Fuddruckers purchased a list. The ESP is Yesmail, a division of InfoGroup.

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Dec
15

BrightTalk: Selling Webcasting Services to a Spamtrap?

Professional community forum and webcasting service BrightTalk is sending bulk email to an email address that was closed in 2007. This email address has not received bulk email from BrightTalk since it was re-enabled after its timeout period in 2009. BrightTalk may be mailing a very old list after allowing it to remain uncontacted for years, may be allowing unconfirmed web form subscriptions, or might have purchased a list. The ESP is Silverpop.

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Dec
15

(RESOLVED) System Tools Software, Inc.: Mailing outdated addresses, not respecting opt-out

System Tools Software, Inc. is spamming addresses they know to be dead. I let them know (about the entire domain, of course) on March 6, 2010. The ESP here is Dundee Internet Services, more specifically their Lyris ListManager offering.

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Dec
15

Americans United: Another Example of Why Subscriptions Should Be Confirmed

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a U.S.-based advocacy group which campaigns against attempts by religious groups to unduly influence politics and government, has just started sending bulk email updates to an email address that was closed in 2007. This email address was in timeout from 2008 through late 2009 before being turned into a spamtrap. Until today, it has received no email from Americans United. The ESP is MailChimp.

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Dec
15

(Resolved): Marketing Legal Training to a Spamtrap

This issue has been resolved. The blog remains posted because blogs shouldn’t disappear, to make sure that Google and other search engines and archives get the update, and in hopes that other people can learn something from it and the comments. 🙂

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Dec
14

S.C. Johnson: Selling Home Cleaning Products to… Homeless Spamtraps?

S.C. Johnson, a U.S.-based household products company known to every small child (and everybody else) in the United States, is sending bulk emails to email addresses that have not been live for many years. These email addresses receive no legitimate email. Until today, they have received no email from S.C. Johnson. So why are these email addresses suddenly getting email from this company? One spamtrap hit might be a typo; several usually means a purchased list. The ESP is Cheetahmail, a subsidiary of Experian.

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Dec
12

InteleTravel.com: Sending Travel Agent Information to Spamtraps?

InteleTravel.com, a reputable travel industry organization that recruits and supports home-based travel agents, is sending bulk emails to email addresses that either never existed or have been closed for years. None of the email addresses in question appear to have belonged to travel agents. One was at a company not in the travel business that has long since gone out of business. So how did these email addresses get on InteleTravel.com’s list? The ESP is Vertical Response.

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Dec
12

Vivint: Selling Home Security to a Homeless… Spamtrap

Vivint, a company that develops and sells wireless home automation and home security systems, is sending bulk emails to an email address that as best I know never existed. The domain was a small domain and only one email address there normally receives any spam but pump’n’dump, botnet style pills, porn, and pirated goods. This isn’t that email address. The ESP is Lyris.

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Dec
11

Adam & Eve: Just *How* Old is Your List?

Adam & Eve, an online retailer of “adult products” (sex toys, x-rated DVDs, etc.), is sending bulk emails to an email address that was closed in 2008. This email address has not received email from Adam & Eve since it passed its timeout period and was re-enabled as a spamtrap in mid-2010. Despite that, the email addresses the recipient as “Customer”. If this email address was ever used by a customer of Adam & Eve, it was closed almost four years ago, and rejected all email for an eighteen-month period in the interim. The ESP is Responsys.

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Dec
10

LD Products: Selling Ink, Toner, and Refills to a Spamtrap

LD Products, an online retailer of inkjet and laser printer ink and supplies, is sending bulk emails to an email address that was closed in 2007. This email address passed its timeout period and was re-enabled as a spamtrap almost two years ago, but only started receiving email from LD Products a few weeks ago. The ESP is E-Dialog.

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