On the flip side of the coin, spammers cause serious problems for us who legitimately send bulk email to opt in users. bidorbuy only sends emails to those who have opted in and in every newsletter we include a clear unsubscribe link (which when clicked on automatically populates the field with the email address the email was sent to). See an example. One problem we had in the past was some times users have a number of aliases and so if you leave it up to them to enter the email address they may not know which alias they originally subscribed with - the system above, whereby we automatically populate the field, besides making it easier for the user fixes that problem. Nevertheless last night I received the following email from spamcop:
From: Donn Edwards [mailto:xxxxxxx (at) spamcop.net] Sent: 17 April 2007 09:57 PMTo: hello (at) bidorbuy.co.zaCc: andy.higgins (at) bidorbuy.co.zaSubject: FW: BIDorBUY keeps sending me SPAM
Dear Mr Higgins
I strongly suggest you comply with the request by Andrew Edwards to have his name removed from your mailing database. Failure to do so will result in you being prosecuted in terms of the ECT Act, which carries a 1 year jail term.
Also, your site does not comply with the Access to Information act, so further legal sanctions could be forthcoming.
Best wishes
Donn Edwards
-----Original Message-----From: Andrew Edwards [mailto: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: 17 April 2007 18:43 pmTo: xxxxxxx (at) opa.org.zaCc: 'bidorbuy.co.za'; Donn EdwardsSubject: BIDorBUY keeps sending me SPAM
The user also complained that he had tried to make contact with us 3 times. We operate a helpdesk system so that each time some one emails us they get sent an auto response with a ticket number for easy future reference. I checked in our helpdesk system and there was only one email from this user and that was sent last night (he could have sent an email using a different email address but I asked him to send us ticket numbers so we could follow up on why his query was not dealt with and so far I have not had a response).
I appreciate that people like spamcop are trying to help the situation but it would be great if there was some kind of system whereby reputable companies such as ourselves could be put on some kind of a white list and if there are problems then these problems are escalated to us in some organised manner rather than me being annoyed at receiving emails such as the one above.
3 comments:
Hi Andy,
I checked out your blog. Great work you're doing there. Keep it up. I will get back to you shortly regarding your request.
Cheers, Jose.
http://www.spaminabox.co.za Block spam and viruses before they hit your network
SPAM in a BOX in conjunction Google email security, powered by Postini, helps keep your email free from spam, viruses, phishing, and other email threats. Google email security, is a hosted solution that blocks spam and other threats well before they reach your enterprise. Unlike legacy products, it requires no hardware or software to install and maintain, thus greatly reducing your IT resource requirements and costs.
Complete spam and virus protection
Comprehensive message security to stop spam, viruses, phishing, denial of service (DoS), directory harvest attacks (DHA), and other email attacks.
Zero-hour anti-virus protection with multi-layered protection, including heuristic and signature-based detection.
Extensive and detailed quarantine summary reporting to end-users through a convenient web console.
Real-time processing with scale and reliability
Patented real-time, pass-through architecture ensures that there are no delays, message loss or disruptions to email service, regardless of how high spam volumes climb.
99.999% availability for message processing and capacity to handle billions of transactions a day.
Policy enforced domain to domain messaging encryption using standard SSL or TLS protocols.
SAS 70 Type II certified and WebTrust seal validates Postini's stringent standards for physical and operational security, assuring the safety of your communications.
Manage communication policies for message attachments and content.
The email I sent you has nothing to do with spamcop.net the company, but was sent by me in my personal capacity as the brother of the person complaining. Spamcop.net just happens to filter my mail.
I have no idea why your help desk didn't have a record of Andrew's pervious complaints, but perhaps if there was a record then he wouldn't have needed to complain several times.
Thanks for resolving the problem, although I see that the site still doesn't comply with PAIA
Post a Comment