The Hongkong and Shanghai Spamming Corporation. Based on my various inboxes, it would appear that HSBC have recently become spammers – or it may be that they’ve been spammers for a while, and I’ve only just noticed it. Before delving into the spam emails I’ve received from HSBC, I should explain why it’s possible they’ve […]
Tag: spam
Let’s talk spam with Web Windows Marketing Limited!
Today, I received a notification that there was a “Post by non-member to a members-only list” on one of the mailing lists I run. This occasionally happens if a subscriber posts to the mailing list from the wrong address. It can also happen if the list address has been harvested by spammers – and the […]
Replies from the ICO about Sage and FindMyPast
While talking about the junk email I’d received from Virgin Media, I mentioned my previous junk emails from Sage and from FindMyPast. These are instances where I’d decided to report the emails to the Information Commissioner’s Office – and while writing about Virgin Media, it occurred to me that I should probably write about the responses […]
Virgin Media joins the ranks of spammers
As I’ve said before in a number of posts (such as this one about Sage and this one about FindMyPast), as a general rule if I have to give an email address to any kind of organisation or submit one on a website, it tends to be one unique to that company. If I’m submitting […]
Sage joins the ranks of spammers
I have worked for pretty much my entire adult life in the field of accounts, and throughout that period I have almost always used, to varying degrees, a package from Sage. This started in my first job, working for a firm of chartered accountants. Around 1990-ish, they had purchased a copy of Sage’s software. The […]
When is a spam not a spam? When it’s a service update
That’s the claim of findmypast.co.uk, one of a number of websites designed to help those interested in the subject of genealogy with the task of investigating their family tree. They seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to send out a marketing email – very specifically, advertising new, lower subscription rates – and claim that […]
Very: Sitting in the grey area between spam and legitimate email
Back in January, I wrote about an issue I had with Very, a Shop Direct Ltd trading arm. Specifically, they had started sending me marketing emails to an address I supplied when I made a purchase from LX Direct (which no longer exists, and also belonged to Shop Direct Ltd) – my policy when purchasing […]
Potential security issue on Amazon’s website (updated 11/4/2011 – twice)
Over the course of the last few days I’ve discovered what appears to be – or possibly to have been – a fairly notable potential security hole in the Amazon UK website (and possibly others, but I only use the UK site on a regular basis). I will go into detail below about the nature […]
When spam and credit checks go hand in hand
When do spam and credit checks go hand in hand? Easy: When the spam is from an otherwise legitimate mail order company, and their unsubscribe link takes you through an account sign up process before you can actually unsubscribe – an account sign up process which includes a credit check because, after all, by signing […]
No way, Mr Spammer
I wondered how long it would take – and the answer is one and a half to two months. One and a half to two months, that is, before spammers found a new potential outlet for their rubbish: the comments section on this blog. (Not that there are very many people reading it!) No spammer […]