Spark recommending to reply unsubscribe to spam

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark recommending to reply unsubscribe to spam

ElectronicFerret

124 posts

Master Geek

#151279 20-Aug-2014 09:44

Hi,
I've recently received spam from a registered New Zealand company sent via xtra/spark/yahoo mail servers from an xtra/spark IP address.

It was sent to a very specific email address which is listed on a club website and has clearly been scraped from a website.

I reported it to xtra/spark and got the following response..

---
Thank you for contacting Spark regarding the emails from this sender.

[myname], this is not considered Spam. This is a mail-out newsletter and gives you the option to unsubscribe which I suggest you do. Once the sender has updated their database you should stop receiving emails from this company.

Your CTS RightNow online reference for this case is [ref number]
---

In the middle of the spam message it says to unsubscribe please reply. Unsubscribe.

It's been drummed into people not to reply to spam as this is just a means to prove an email address is valid however telecom recommend this.

And how to telecom/spark get to decide if it's spam or not? It was unsolicited, I never opted in to the mailing list.

Rant over!

trig42

5604 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1111829 20-Aug-2014 09:50

Is it Spam, or is it from a legit company/business who have harvested your email from somewhere that you have put it?

If it is an unsolicited email form a legit email address, I do not see how this is Spark's issue? Just reply with Unsubscribe - if they are NZ based they have to remove you form their mailing list. Or, do nothing and delete the emails you get from them, or, create a rule that emails from that address are automatically deleted.

If it is from a spam address, it will eventually get picked up by Spark's (Yahoo's) spam filters.

Sharesies kids

Free kids accounts - trade shares and funds (NZ, US) with Sharesies (affiliate link).

ElectronicFerret

124 posts

Master Geek

#1111835 20-Aug-2014 09:57

>> Is it Spam, or is it from a legit company/business who have harvested your email from somewhere that you have put it?
These are not mutually exclusive.

It is spam "a commercial electronic message that the recipient has not consented to receiving."

The email address was scraped off a website... "A person must not use address-harvesting software or a harvested-address list in connection with, or with the intention of, sending unsolicited commercial electronic messages in contravention of section 9."

And it ticks every box to be considered to have a New Zealand link (from NZ company, to nz person, to a .co.nz address, from nz server, etc)

I'm used to ignoring email, but I've received similar emails from this person in the past (to a different email address) and I told they they were spam and was told to get f%&#$d.

eracode

Smpl Mnmlst
7269 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1111861 20-Aug-2014 10:06

ElectronicFerret: Hi,
I've recently received spam from a registered New Zealand company sent via xtra/spark/yahoo mail servers from an xtra/spark IP address.

It was sent to a very specific email address which is listed on a club website and has clearly been scraped from a website.

I reported it to xtra/spark and got the following response..

---
Thank you for contacting Spark regarding the emails from this sender. [myname], this is not considered Spam. This is a mail-out newsletter and gives you the option to unsubscribe which I suggest you do. Once the sender has updated their database you should stop receiving emails from this company. Your CTS RightNow online reference for this case is [ref number]
---

In the middle of the spam message it says to unsubscribe please reply. Unsubscribe.

It's been drummed into people not to reply to spam as this is just a means to prove an email address is valid however telecom recommend this.

And how to telecom/spark get to decide if it's spam or not? It was unsolicited, I never opted in to the mailing list.

Rant over!

Same here - totally P's me off and I'm as mad as hell.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

hashbrown

463 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1111869 20-Aug-2014 10:24

A NZ company sending SPAM is subject to NZ law that can be enforced.

Suggest reading the advice from the DIA site, and logging a complaint if unsubscribe fails.

http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Anti-Spam-Complain-About-Spam

trig42

5604 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1111884 20-Aug-2014 11:11

Yep, if you have had emails from them before, and they are ignoring your unsubscribe attempts, it can be enforced by NZ law. Complain to the relevant authority. In this case, yes, I suppose it is Spam, but it is directed at you, from a legit address, not just fired shotgun like in the hope it hits you (like junk mail/flyers in your letterbox). Spark/Yahoo probably cannot do much about it as it will not trigger their Spam filters. Maybe if you log into the Spark webmail and mark it as spam there, it might learn?

I have 'harvested' email addresses before from business cards at conferences, and also for schools off the MOE website. If people unsubscribed from the info I sent them, I deleted their contact details straight away.

I get unsolicited phone calls just about every day (from people selling CRM to new websites and yesterday Cisco products). Our company phone number is easily found, and they ask for IT. Not much I can do about it other than decline their offer. If my email address was on the company website, I'd get a heap of emails too.