Subscribe to MacWorld, Get Spammed?

[dricci]

I just got an e-mail from MacWorld (I'm a subscriber) telling me that basically, they had added me to their spam list, and I had to send an e-mail to an address to be removed.

Dear <my name>,

As a Macworld subscriber, you're part of an elite group of technically
savvy computer users who demand high performance and superior
technology. Macworld has always strived to provide you with useful
information and tools to help you get the most out of your Mac
products, and to help you find the best technology for your needs.

To help you maintain an edge on the latest technology products and
services available, we'd like to send you carefully selected offers,
information, and deals via e-mail on behalf of reputable third party
advertisers whose products and services we feel will be of valuable
benefit to you. These messages will always come from Macworld; your
e-mail address will not be shared.

If you prefer not to receive these messages, please send a blank e-mail
to: mailto:remove-2ap26a2ua8q3j7qbp6f8asbu84c52wa@macworld.chtah.com

We will record your preference in our files and exclude you from
these mailings.

For your reference, below are some guidelines Macworld adheres to
when delivering messages on behalf of third parties.

* Your e-mail address will never be shared with a third party
advertiser. All messages are delivered by Macworld on behalf of
the advertiser through a professional e-mail deployment service.

* All third party messages sent by Macworld are clearly identified
with the use of message headers and footers.

* All third party messages are carefully pre-screened for both their
value and relevance to you as a Macworld subscriber.

* All third party messages carry clear "remove" instructions in their
footers, and you may request at any time to be removed from future
mailings. All requests to be removed from future mailings are
processed within 48 hours of being received.


Thank you for being a subscriber to Macworld, the world's leading
independent Macintosh publication. We hope that you will find this
valuable service beneficial and that you'll continue to rely on us as
your best and most trustworthy source of Macintosh information.

Best regards,

Rafael Sosa
Subscriber Services
Macworld magazine

Now, as a PAYING subscriber, I don't think I should be subjected to being spammed! Hell, I'm not even sure how they got my e-mail address (but the name was the same as on my magazine address label every month, all caps, etc) so I know I got that because I was a subscriber.

I sent a message to that address to unsubscribe, and replied to the message with this:

Wait, you want to spam me first, and then ask if it's ok later? No thanks.

Thanks to this message, It looks like I've finally decided if I'll renew MacWorld or MacAddict.

Which do you think it'll be?

I'm sorry, but I will NOT tolerate my personal e-mail address being spammed by anybody, let alone a company I am a customer of! They could have *asked* me if I wanted to be part of a spam list, but instead they add me and then tell me I need to do something to unsubscribe.

So, did anybody else get this?

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm not a subscriber to MacWorld, but its not anything new. I had to change my original email address at work that I had had for years because I was getting way too much spam. It worked perfectly - I haven't received any unwanted email in that account for over a year now.

Unfortunately, its not always benefitial to change your email. I just wish there was a sure way to filter it all out. I've been using Apple's mail app with the Spam filter on, but in learning mode, because from time to time it lables some personal email as spam - not good.

D

[jelloshotsrule]

i too, have yet to get beyond the learning mode... as long as it separates most of it, i can just delete it quickly.

i think the ideal thing, is have a main email address, then have another that you use to sign up for stuff.... unless of course you know it'll be spamfree to sign up for something with the main email address..

unfortunately, i get an assload of spam at my main address, and it'd be too hard to change it at this point... so i'm kinda stuck. ah well

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by jelloshotsrule

i think the ideal thing, is have a main email address, then have another that you use to sign up for stuff.... unless of course you know it'll be spamfree to sign up for something with the main email address..


That's what I've been doing. With my dukestreet account I have unlimited aliases and can sign up places as anything I want. Its a great way to trace where the spam comes from. My main email at home is getting a little busy, though, and I might have to change to something else in a couple years. That won't be fun.....

D

[medea]

I got a free trial issue once, and before I ever recieved a trial issue they started sending me bills for a subscription, I didnt want a subscription so I never sent in a payment, and they keep sending bills! in one there was even a letter saying, if you dont pay we will have to but a hold on your subscription etc....what a bunch of crap.

[Nipsy]

Well,

To some degree, you deserve it. You should never give your email to someone who doesn't require it. MacWorld, being a print magazine, requires your postal address, not your email, not your phone number, etc.

My mother recently got a new grocery store card. She had to fill out her name address and phone number (ummmm....I guess this is so they can call you if there is a grocery emergency!). I was over at the parents for dinner a month or so later, and during dinner they got the telemarketing call for online grocery buying...

The moral of the story, is that if you automatically give out valid markeeting information, expect to be marketed to.

Since very few businesses ever need to contact you for business, but rather for marketing, I myself always give out the contact info for the President of the Direct Marketing Association:

H. Robert Wientzen
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-6700
Phone: 212-768-7277
Fax: 212-302-6714
bwientze@the-dma.org

[scem0]

My solution to the problem is having 2 seperate email accounts.
When I need to sign up for something, I sign up under do_not@writeme.com
(yes that is my real adress), but I don't give my real email adress
out. SO far it has worked perfectly.

[Nipsy]

In case you'd like to turn the tables on some others from the DMA:
asanchez@the-dma.org, bgreco@the-dma.org, bwientze@the-dma.org, bwientzen@the-dma.org, cdalzell@the-dma.org, chirsch@the-dma.org, chrisgallagher@the-dma.org, conference@the-dma.org, consumer@the-dma.org, consumeraffairs@the-dma.org, councils@the-dma.org, customerservice@the-dma.org, dma@the-dma.org, dmef@the-dma.org, escanlon@the-dma.org, general@the-dma.org, govaffairs@the-dma.org, Governme@the-dma.org, gdunlap@the-dma.org, Internat@the-dma.org, lsemaya@the-dma.org, jcerasale@the-dma.org, jcrowe@the-dma.org, lrc@the-dma.org, members@the-dma.org, membership@the-dma.org, mmicali@the-dma.org, ppeach@the-dma.org, pdt@the-dma.org, pr@the-dma.org, Presiden@the-dma.org, president@the-dma.org, privacy@the-dma.org, registration@the-dma.org, rlafaso@the-dma.org, webcast@the-dma.org, webmaster@the-dma.org

[zimv20]

Originally posted by Nipsy

Since very few businesses ever need to contct you for business, but rather for marketing, I myself always give out the contact info for the President of the Direct Marketing Association:

H. Robert Wientzen
1120 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-6700
Phone: 212-768-7277
Fax: 212-302-6714
bwientze@the-dma.org

you, sir, are evil. pure evil. well done.

:-)

[Nipsy]

Originally posted by zimv20


you, sir, are evil. pure evil. well done.

:-)

Actually, this is pure evil, and the one I use for the most insidious of marketing invaders:

Home address:

Wientzen, H Robert
265 E 66 St
Manhattan, NY 10021
212-879-5606
212-327-0497 (FAX)

If he's not home, try the vacation property:

Wientzen, H Robert and Lucille
7300 Mandarin Dr
Boca Raton, FL 33433
561-852-4965

Give him a call and offer to sell him something...

[zimv20]

Originally posted by Nipsy


Home address:

If he's not home, try the vacation property:


i will support you in your run for Congress.

[SilvorX]

Originally posted by medea
I got a free trial issue once, and before I ever recieved a trial issue they started sending me bills for a subscription, I didnt want a subscription so I never sent in a payment, and they keep sending bills! in one there was even a letter saying, if you dont pay we will have to but a hold on your subscription etc....what a bunch of crap.
same here, i was like "wtf, where the trial issue?" cuz i expected to get the trial issue BEFORE the bill, but i thought the free issue was just slow in the mail...but i guess not...
u can guess which out of the two magazine (macworld and macaddict) i chose :p *cough macaddict cough*
when i got my free trial copy of macworld, 98% of it was either adds, stuff i didn't want to read, or both lol, while macaddict had articles that were worth the time to read...thats why i just started subscribing to it (should get my first issue sometime b4 the new year hopefully)

[Mr. Anderson]

Originally posted by Nipsy

Give him a call and offer to sell him something...

OMG! Where did you get this info? That is truly wonderful though.

Have you ever tried to call him yourself?

D

[Tiauguinho]

Impressive Nipsy... That's very wicked... I like it! :D

[Nipsy]

Originally posted by dukestreet


OMG! Where did you get this info? That is truly wonderful though.

Have you ever tried to call him yourself?

D

It all on the web...

I've never tried to call, but I do redirect telemarketers to my "New York home". They think "whale" when they get a bi-coastal target!

I also rarely get telemarketed, as I protect my contact info religiously, and keep a spam phone line which goes unanswered.

When a telemarketer gets through randomly/because they somehow got my number, I really like to screw with them.

Another favorite is to redirect them to competing telemarketing firms execs....

[AssassinOfGates]

Talk with em. A long time. Make them think you're about to buy, and then go over the details with em. Then tell em not to call back.

They paid. $5 a minute.

[Giaguara]

.... well? i get spam from applicando and i have only one visited their site, i am not even a subscriber... :( ... i just forward all that crap to spamcop

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by scem0
My solution to the problem is having 2 seperate email accounts.
When I need to sign up for something, I sign up under do_not@writeme.com
(yes that is my real adress), but I don't give my real email adress
out. SO far it has worked perfectly.

I do the same thing using two email addresses that is. I use loujunkmail@attbi.com. If I start receiving too much junk mail at that address I just change it.

[Choppaface]

Originally posted by Nipsy


Actually, this is pure evil, and the one I use for the most insidious of marketing invaders:

Home address:

Wientzen, H Robert
265 E 66 St
Manhattan, NY 10021
212-879-5606
212-327-0497 (FAX)

If he's not home, try the vacation property:

Wientzen, H Robert and Lucille
7300 Mandarin Dr
Boca Raton, FL 33433
561-852-4965

Give him a call and offer to sell him something...

mwhahahahaaha :D :D

hope one of them doesn't get really angry though..... can't they charge you with fraud?

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by medea
I got a free trial issue once, and before I ever recieved a trial issue they started sending me bills for a subscription, I didnt want a subscription so I never sent in a payment, and they keep sending bills! in one there was even a letter saying, if you dont pay we will have to but a hold on your subscription etc....what a bunch of crap.

Interesting. When I registered my PowerMac this year, I selected a year's subscription to MacWorld. I got an e-mail thanking me for registering and a link to the MacWorld signup. After I finished signing up for my free subscrption, I got a billing notice. However, I never got any issues.

This week, I received the post-registration e-mail from Apple again. :D

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by bousozoku


Interesting. When I registered my PowerMac this year, I selected a year's subscription to MacWorld. I got an e-mail thanking me for registering and a link to the MacWorld signup. After I finished signing up for my free subscrption, I got a billing notice. However, I never got any issues.

This week, I received the post-registration e-mail from Apple again. :D

I actually received to back issues to catch me up to the exact date that I signed up. MacWorld has really changed it's almost useful again.

[Nipsy]

Originally posted by Choppaface


mwhahahahaaha :D :D

hope one of them doesn't get really angry though..... can't they charge you with fraud?

I'm not sure if it is fraud, as I redirect telemarketers without misrepresentation.

I usually say, "I don't accept solicitations on this line. Try 212-879-5606 next week." I am not deceiveing, and it is thin to say I am misleading.

With things that require an address, I am an IP, or a fingerprint, neither of which are likely to be tracked without suit being brought. Again, I don't know if this is chargable/suitworthy, as I am not legally bound to tell the truth on most forms (many of which are unsigned). Additionally, I have inspired many others to similar behavior, either with Mr. Weintzen's info, or with their own chosen spammer/junk mailer (AOL is a favorite), so there is a nebulous community to point the finger at.

Either way, I would bet that the EFF, maybe a few consumer groups, etc. would defend me if I were to get sued, for the exposure alone.

Furthermore, and fraud suit will trigger a number of invasion of privacy counter-suits against several organizations which have failed to cease calling me.

I'm even thinking of suing for default judgements on several firms that have failed to mail their policies and written cease contact letters within the alloted 30 days...