Anti-Spam Company Is Spamming?

from the say-it-ain't-so dept

Thu, Feb 13th 2003 9:01am — Mike Masnick

Absolutely incredible. It appears that an anti-spam provider named "Spam Arrest" has done the most ridiculous thing imaginable and spammed people to get them interested in their software. This story has been corroborated by many others. Basically, Spam Arrest took the emails of anyone who sent an email to a Spam Arrest customer, and spammed them back to tell them about their product. While I've heard of spammers now pitching anti-spam products, this is slightly different, as it appears to be a legitimate anti-spam product, run by people who clearly have no clue. Update: The anti-spam company has responded, defending their actions, saying that it's legitimate marketing. Any "anti-spam" company that thinks "industry accepted rules" means (1) it's okay to spam people who emailed one of your customers (2) "opt-out" is fine and (3) putting ADV: in the subject makes it okay, is clearly not an anti-spam company that has the slightest clue about spam.

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mike, 14 Feb 2003 @ 3:48am

insanity
I think this is taking spam to far.. What is the definition of spam? for me, I can live with recieving an ad here and there for some (legitimate) company or product. but what i dont like or want is the 100+ emails a day for mortgage services, various pr0n sites, and organ enlargement devices. let alone 7-8 of the same exact spam a day.
This is whats made this whole spam problem what it is.. legitimate companies dont want a law passed outlawing them from sending an occasional advert to those who have expressed a possible interest in them (after all a primary role of the internet is an information medium), but then the scammers take it all out of control and create the problem. hence there is no clear solution to the problem of spam, as well as no clear definition of what "spam" is. yawn.. the net is a mess
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I WAS SPAMMED BY THEM, 16 Feb 2003 @ 9:55pm

Sample SPAM ARREST - SPAM SENDOUT
To: (NAME MASKED)
Subject: ADV: Enjoy a spam-free inbox

You may remember recently sending an email to a Spam Arrest customer,
and receiving a response asking you to visit our website and type in
a word that was shown to you in a picture.
It was pretty easy, wasn't it?
Did you know that that one simple step stops virtually all spam from entering our customers' inboxes?
You too can enjoy the benefits of a spam-free inbox.
We are so confident you'll like our product, that we'd like to offer you a 30-Day free trial. If you are un-satisfied for any reason, just
cancel your account before the end of the trial and you'll pay nothing.
Click here to visit our website and start your trial:
(Link removed, why should they benefit from this?)
Spam Arrest
Take control of your inbox!
----------------------
You are receiving this email in response to an email you recently sent to a Spam Arrest customer.
If you do not wish to receive further promotional emails from Spam Arrest, please click the following link:
(Link removed...)
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david, 5 Dec 2007 @ 6:06pm

I had been a loyal and paying customer of Spamarrest for some time, recently their service has been erratic and I lost a number of important messages. After not receiving adequate support I decided to cancel my recently renewed account and asked for a refund of the unused portion. Here is their response:
Hi David,

Thanks once again.

David, I am very sorry to tell you that we are not able to offer you a refund for your account. You may continue to use your Spam Arrest account till 2008-10-01 by reactivating the account.

I truly apologize for your inconvenience, David. Please do let me know if you need anything else.

Best Regards,
Peter
Technical Support Specialist
Spam Arrest
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