Unsubscribe = data harvesting ? :)

Forums › Off topic › Unsubscribe = data harvesting ? :)

xpd

Geek of Coastguard
14115 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4574

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#315010 7-Jun-2024 07:53

Been getting emails/invites from some company in Sydney for the past week, no idea where they grabbed my details.....

Anyway, saw an unsubscribe link - clicked it. This is where it directed me to.

https://morfitgroup.com.au/unsubscribe-page/

Now, all they should need is my email address to remove me..... right ?

Nope. They want everything - fricking data harvesting.

I emailed the person who has been sending me the invites, so be interesting to see if they respond.

XPD / Gavin

LinkTree

evilonenz

/dev/urandom
291 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 152

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3245540 7-Jun-2024 08:08

I've been bombarded by these people too, invite upon invite in my work inbox. I found the same with their unsubscribe, so I just ended up blocking their domain at our spamfilter level. Ain't got time to deal with people like that.

Smokeping

Referral Links:

Quic - Use code R536299EPGOCN at checkout for free setup
Contact Energy - Use code FRTQDXB for $100 credit

gehenna

8667 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3883

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3245562 7-Jun-2024 09:26

I just view unsubscribe links as "proof of life" now, so I block the emails rather than unsubscribing. I just assume more often than not that if I click the link they'll register the address as valid and add me to more lists.

alasta

6888 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3362

Trusted

Subscriber

#3245582 7-Jun-2024 10:41

I find that the majority of nuisance emails tend to originate from event organisers and large hotel chains. For that reason I always provide a throwaway email address when making reservations with these organisations.

Behodar

11094 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6071

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3245587 7-Jun-2024 11:02

Hotels, yep. I last stayed with a certain hotel circa 2017 yet I recently-ish started getting emails from a promotions@ address. I blocked that one, and I see that they've now shifted to using reservations@ - people are less likely to block that one if they're actually staying there and want their booking confirmations.

nztim

4012 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2710

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#3245597 7-Jun-2024 11:45

gehenna:

I just view unsubscribe links as "proof of life" now, so I block the emails rather than unsubscribing. I just assume more often than not that if I click the link they'll register the address as valid and add me to more lists.

I have a "Garbage" folder in outlook and an M365 rule to direct all the crap there, and scan it once a week for anything worth glancing at and then delete

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41030

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#3245730 7-Jun-2024 14:13

gehenna:

I just view unsubscribe links as "proof of life" now, so I block the emails rather than unsubscribing. I just assume more often than not that if I click the link they'll register the address as valid and add me to more lists.

Yes and no. If the email is managed by a professional mailer (Mailchimp) and/or I did register with the company before then I will unsubscribe because Mailchimp as a business depends on not being associated with spam.

If it's a private sender or a company I have not dealt with before then I just delete.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

Geekzone support

Support Geekzone with one-off or recurring donations Donate via PressPatron.

richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10208

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3245735 7-Jun-2024 14:21

I have no problems with reporting things as spam if I did not agree to get it. If its from a legit list like mailchimp they give you an option for I didnt agree to get these when you unsub - Use it because that reflects badly on the mailchimp user for loading data they shouldnt do.

If its from their own mail server then report as spam in gmail etc - Not seen many other ways to report them to the blackhole lists recently and really I dont want to put that much time into things but I used to report to all that I could find. Make the idiots have to put time into sorting out their mess of getting blacklisted.

Richard rich.ms

msukiwi

2443 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2126

Lifetime subscriber

#3261432 19-Jul-2024 13:36

For a year or more I have been trying to Unsubscribe from Glengarry Wines Newsletter. (I filter it to spam!)

Sometimes more than 1 a day. Some without any unsubscribe option!

Always received the "You have been unsubscribed from all emails" message.

Still they come!

I have now phoned them and advised that if 1 more is received the DIA will be notified!

I await whether I have finally been truly unsubscribed!

SirHumphreyAppleby

2938 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1860

#3261442 19-Jul-2024 14:01

freitasm:

Yes and no. If the email is managed by a professional mailer (Mailchimp) and/or I did register with the company before then I will unsubscribe because Mailchimp as a business depends on not being associated with spam.

If it's an unknown company, I will forward the e-mail as an attachment to the relevant abuse address and not use the unsubscribe link. The fact that the unsubscribe occurred is still known to the spammers, so they can use that information to validate addresses and send through other less reputable services (such as GMail).

xpd

Geek of Coastguard
14115 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4574

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3261443 19-Jul-2024 14:08

Had no response since the OP from the sender except, more emails etc... so replied stating they had to remove me as my original request or it'd be taken up with the DIA - had no emails since. Think they got the hint.

XPD / Gavin

LinkTree

Behodar

11094 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6071

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3261445 19-Jul-2024 14:09

SirHumphreyAppleby:

I will forward the e-mail as an attachment to the relevant abuse address

Speaking of abuse addresses, I read something a while ago from someone with one of the large American ISPs. He said he gets a surprising amount of spam sent to the abuse address (you'd think they wouldn't be that dumb*) and whenever it happens he contacts the spammer's ISP's abuse address. He usually getting absolutely no response, and so he blocks that ISP from his network. Apparently the spam volumes have been steadily decreasing as he plugs more and more holes :)

*Having said that, I got one a couple of days ago that contained nothing but an error message from their bot software!