Vistaprint, which should need no introduction to anybody who hasn’t been hiding in the woods for the past decade and has email, just sent spam to a spamtrap that cannot have been live after 2006. The ESP is Cheetahmail, a subsidiary of Experian.
Sweepstakes and deals program American Family today sent a welcome message to a spamtrap that has been closed for over ten years, notifying it that it had been added to their list. Moreover, when this spamtrap was live, it belonged to a European user who presumably would not qualify for the deals that this site offers. The ESP is Acxiom Digital.
Redbox, a popular U.S.-based movie and game rental service with trademark red kiosks at many gas stations and minimarts across the country, is actively confirming subscriptions to its service and mailing list. Over the past couple of months a number of my spamtraps have received confirmation requests from Redbox via its ESP, Cheetahmail, a subsidiary of Experian.
The online storefront for dELiA*s, a women’s clothing store in the United States, is sending email advertisements to a spamtrap that closed several years ago. The ESP is Cheetahmail, a subsidiary of Experian.
U.S. telecommunications and network service provider Sprint today sent bulk email to a couple dozen spamtraps of mine and (doubtless) a great many belonging to other antispammers. Most of these email addresses have been closed for periods ranging from five years to over a decade, if they were ever live at all. (I didn’t check them all.) The ESP is Acxiom Digital, which presumably did not expect a customer with Sprint’s reputation and experience to spam a list that could have been sourced from a Millionez CD seller. 🙁
Campanile, a UK-based hotel and restaurant chain that is owned by French hotelier Louvre Hotels Group, about two weeks ago started sending bulk email advertisements to an email address that was closed in 2002. The ESP is Pure 360, aka PureSender.
Entertainment Weekly, a widely-read U.S.-based magazine about the entertainment industry published by Time, Inc., today sent a subscription offer to what it evidently believes is a former subscriber. The email address to which it was sent has not been live for over seven years. The ESP is Acxiom Digital.
Today Parenting.com, a web site with information for parents of babies and toddlers, for the first time sent bulk email to a spamtrap that has been dead for over a decade. The web site is owned and operated by Parenting magazine, which belongs to consumer publication company Bonnier Corporation. The ESP is SilverPop.
U.S. banking giant Citibank yesterday sent bulk email about “thank you” rewards points to a new spamtrap that has been dead for over eight years. The email contained a name and the last four digits of a credit card number. As with previous Citibank bulk emails that I have seen and blogged about, the ESP is Epsilon Interactive via its ESP Bigfoot Interactive.
Toshiba America’s consumer and small business direct sales portal Toshiba Direct is sending bulk email to yet another email address that did not request it. Toshiba appears to be spamming non-opted-in email addresses: possibly a very old customer list that has not been properly maintained, possibly a purchased or epended list, or possibly a combination of both. The ESP is once again Responsys.