Oct
09

Redbox: COI Doesn’t Fix All Bulk Email Problems

Because Redbox has been actively confirming subscriptions to its lists, I’ve kept quiet about the spamtrap hits that I see from them. They’re doing the right thing to confirm. I don’t want to discourage them. But their initial acquisition process for these email addresses is resulting in more initial spamtrap hits than any reputable company whose bulk email I’ve observed before. I think that they and their ESPs — Cheetahmail, a subsidiary of Experian, and ExactTarget — need to know this. Further, this raises an important issue for many companies that use bulk email: what to do about problems that confirmed opt-in (COI) doesn’t solve.

Read more…

Sep
30

Political Spam Today: Donate! (Continued…)

This *weekend* the presidential campaigns doubled down on spam, as an FEC deadline at the end of September crept up upon them. Eight spams, all from one of the presidential campaigns or a Democratic Party campaign committee. One single spamtrap received copies of six of these eight spams. I’m not the typical email recipient, but if I had received that many begging emails from a candidate that I supported, I’d be tempted to vote for his opponent.

Read more…

Sep
30

Lowe’s: Offering Home Improvement Deals to a Spamtrap

Lowe’s, a U.S.-based hardware and home improvement store that competes directly with Home Depot, a few months ago started sending bulk email advertisements to a spamtrap that cannot have been live after 2002. Today Lowe’s hit a second spamtrap, an email address that (if it was ever live) closed in 2005. The ESP is ExactTarget.

Read more…

Sep
29

Political Spam Today: Donate! Donate! Donate!

Today the presidential campaigns doubled down on spam, begging their supporters to donate as much as they could in advance of an FEC deadline at the end of September. *Nine* spams, all from one of the presidential campaigns or a Democratic Party campaign committee. (While the Romney campaign is hitting plenty of spamtraps, the Republican party counterparts to the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees are either not sending as much spam or have managed to avoid my spamtraps.) Notable highlights include a double-header in the DSCC’s Spamming Senator of the Day Contest (Harry Reid and John Kerry) and thanks from First Lady Michelle Obama for a contribution — to a spamtrap that hasn’t been live for years and can’t have contributed any money to any candidate.

Read more…

Sep
28

Political Spam Today: Bill Clinton and Ann Romney Get Into the Act

Nobody took today off, probably because it’s the end of the quarter for FEC reporting. :/ Bill Clinton bright and early, followed by Romney campaign deputy digital director Abe Adams, Senator Al Franken, and Ann Romney. And several other groups. <sigh>

Read more…

Sep
26

Political Spam Today: Romney and Warren Pile On….

Today’s spam take: seven spam emails from one presidential campaign, one senatorial campaign, and our old friends the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The DSCC, DCCC, and MittRomney.com are really pumping it out today. :/ Mailings from the DSCC, DCCC, and ElizabethWarren.com are blocked by SpamCop, a major blocklist. So far MittRomney.com has escaped listing on any widely-used blacklists, but if the spamtrap hits continue at this rate, that won’t last.

Read more…

Sep
25

Political Spam Today: Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians Alike

I admit it. I’ve been hesitant to talk about the flood of political spam that is hitting my spamtraps because there’s so much of it that I don’t know where to start. But the situation is crazy and getting worse by the day. So welcome to the new Political Spam Today report on the MainSleaze blog.

Read more…

Sep
25

Louisville Courier-Journal: Hiring an Email Appender? :(

Sometime towards the beginning of summer 2012 the Louisville Courier-Journal, a newspaper serving north-central Kentucky and southern Indiana, began sending email updates to an email address at a domain that was closed over seven years ago. The Courier-Journal’s parent company is U.S. media conglomerate Gannett. Their ESP is ExactTarget.

Read more…

Sep
12

Brooks Brothers: Fine Men’s Clothing for a Spamtrap

Brooks Brothers, the iconic U.S.-based high-end men’s clothing store, is sending bulk email advertisements to a recently-reenabled email address that, if it ever belonged to a real person, closed in 2004. The ESP is ExactTarget.

Read more…

Aug
29

Expedia: Offering Wedneday Travel Deals to a Spamtrap

Travel portal Expedia just sent a bulk email to an email address that, if it ever belonged to a real person, closed in 2005. The ESP is ExactTarget.

Read more…

Go back to top