Thanks for requesting more information about visiting Colorado!

April 20, 2006 11:20 PM

I've started getting lots of emails thanking me for my interest in a variety of services/info requests/subscriptions that I definately didn't ask for. Is this some wierd cyberstalking, or is there some new sophisticated type of spam going around?

So far, I have received about 20 messages from tradepub.com denying me subsriptions to trade publications as diverse as Nursing Monthly and Federal Computing Weekly.

I also been thanked for my enquiries about purchasing Boston Whaler Boats, visiting Colorado, getting a hair transplant and I've been sent a link to download i-anywhere's "M-Business Anywhere Developer Edition". There were a couple more before this, I think, but I just deleted them because I thought they were regular type spam that my web based email had missed.

Nearly all the emails have mentioned that whatever it was I requested has been (snail) mailed to me....

WTF is going on? Am I sleep surfing? Is someone just hiding behind a "fake" email address they think they've created? If so anyone have any idea how can I track the person down and ask them to stop?

I wouldn't be bothered, but there's no way to spam filter them so they arrive in my inbox. Also, I have no idea whether the person has opted out or if my email address is being distributed to every shyster in America....

posted by davehat to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

sounds like your garden variety spam to me. I'd just delete it or tag it as Junk in Thunderbird and let it catch future ones. Also, enable spam assasin, if you can, and that'll take care of it.
posted by special-k at 11:41 PM on April 20, 2006

I just realized that you don't have a filter. sorry. Can you get this mail as POP onto a client like Thunderbird?
posted by special-k at 11:42 PM on April 20, 2006

It's a long shot, but you might be having this issue.

I've just done a quick check, and dave.hat [at] gmail [dizzot] com is taken (unless that's you, too). Maybe you're getting his mail?
posted by Drunken_munky at 12:51 AM on April 21, 2006

Response by poster: Drunken_munky: Any chance you could email Matt or Jess to have that email address reference obfuscated (or, prefferably removed) please? Its not my registered email address (that's on my user page, which it appears you've checked) but if whats written on the page you linked to is true, anything sent to it will end up in my inbox (tested, true). Its not possible for someone else to register it.

I'm still not convinced this stuff is spam. They're not flogging v.1.a.g.r.4 or cheap software and they're not telling me that horny babes are waiting for me RIGHT NOW on their webcams. They're not offering to enlarge my penis while transfering $400 million dollars into my bank account if only I provide my bank details. They're not offering me an MA or Doctorate or home loans at !!!!!!!!!!AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! rates. They all appear to be following up on stuff filled in to online application forms.

I've googled and researched (as much as I can) a number of the companies where the emails came from and none of them seemed to be linked with spamming....

I'm at a loss right now....
posted by davehat at 4:00 AM on April 21, 2006

That tradepub subscription form is fairly long, so getting 20 denials from them is very strange. They do have a contact page which promises a reply from a person, and they have a privacy address on there which I suspect would be very interested to hear your story. At a minimum they might be able to tell you if this is normal for them or abnormal, and might have IP addresses associated with the subscription applications. If they have access to the applications themselves that might tell you more as well.
posted by jwells at 6:52 AM on April 21, 2006

Is it possible that this is some friend's (or enemy's) slightly-more-modern version of the "fill out the reader service request card with your address" prank?

Because, you know, there's nothing more hilarious that piles and piles of unwanted mail....
posted by baltimore at 7:01 AM on April 21, 2006

When sites ask me for an e-mail address, I'll frequently give them a fake one. I use the same fake one every time. If that e-mail was actually real, then that person would be getting a lot of messages like what you describe.

In short, I'm very sorry [e-mail] for all the bogus mail I've sent your way.
posted by willnot at 7:46 AM on April 21, 2006

You'd be surprised how many people enter incorrect email addresses by accident when signing up for stuff.

I wouldn't worry about these too much. There's very little that you can do about them except for sigh and hit "Delete."
posted by drstein at 7:47 AM on April 21, 2006

Response by poster: That tradepub subscription form is fairly long, so getting 20 denials from them is very strange. They do have a contact page which promises a reply from a person, and they have a privacy address on there which I suspect would be very interested to hear your story.

Hmm, I'll try that. I tried replying to an email with a request for "my" IP address, but no one got back.

Is it possible that this is some friend's (or enemy's) slightly-more-modern version of the "fill out the reader service request card with your address" prank?

Yeah, I was thinking that, but the only place I hang out online is here and my posting behaviour for the last 3 years has been to write comments, press preview, edit, preview, edit, preview, then not bother to submit.

Avoids all possible conflict! I stick to fluffy subjects now and read metatalk as opposed to posting in it.

In short, I'm very sorry [e-mail] for all the bogus mail I've sent your way

I have to confess too. Sorry sorry [e-mail]

You'd be surprised how many people enter incorrect email addresses by accident when signing up for stuff.

What, like a couple of times a day every other day or so over the span of a few weeks? I guess it could happen, but it stretches credibility a bit doesn't it?
posted by davehat at 8:35 AM on April 21, 2006

Spams like this are often sent out to confirm the validity of email addresses - you go to the fake site to try and remove your contact info, thus confirming the email addy is read. Just like that, the spammers have another confirmed email to sell.
posted by jedrek at 8:56 AM on April 21, 2006

While we're at it, my sincerest apologies to [e-mail]
posted by rabble at 4:22 PM on April 21, 2006