How to report these idiots?

[Casinorep]

Where and how do I report these spam harvesting schemers? They are the reason I keep getting emails and Skype spams from unknown so called affiliate managers...

[Nenad]

Where and how do I report these spam harvesting schemers? They are the reason I keep getting emails and Skype spams from unknown so called affiliate managers...

I would like to get an advice on this too!

[universal4]

Spammers and email sellers harvest emails anywhere they can find them, if your email addresses are in plain text "anywhere" they will end up on the lists.

Spammers and email sellers trade lists all the time, despite the majority of them claiming they do not.

Many banks and credit card company's, utility companies and any other online vendors sell and trade their lists all the time, despite many of them claiming they do not.

Often the above is disguised as allowing only vetted and trusted third party vendors (affiliates) access to lists to which they are only allowed to do a one-off email to promote a vetted or trusted product or service. If you think those "trusted" affiliates do not use that list again, those companies providing the lists should wake up.

Many social media companies are completely nuts in their so-called idea of allowing paid or "premium" user to harvest lists also. A perfect example of that is LI. No email address used for their platform is protected, whether you pay or not.

LI took this a step further some years ago. They asked their users to sync their contact lists to see who is already on the platform so they can "connect" them. If Joe User is not a member of LI, on what planet did Joe user give Mary User2 permission to give LI Joe User's email address? Simple answer he did not, but Mary gave permission, although Mary may not give permission for him, but it still goes on and was a huge part of LI's growth in the early years.

The example is not the only place such things took place, but one of the many.

For many years there has been a lot of speculation that affiliate manages trade emails, and years ago I knew quite a handful of affiliates that used a unique email for every program they signed up for just to see who did and who didn't. Overall, most of the better more trusted affiliate managers would never dream of doing such a thing since they know how valuable that contact is and would never jeopardize a relationship, but for others ?

Then there is also the mistake of using common email addresses. Forget using such names as webmaster@, webmistress@, sales@, info@, admin@, administrator@, root@

Fighting against spam can be quite a task, and there are a handful of groups out there that have done a lot such as https://www.projecthoneypot.org/ , however the problem is so widespread and the "data" has become so valuable, and the strong steps that should have been taken 15-20 years ago were completely overlooked, now it is more about trying to manage spam to a more reasonable level.

Rick
Universal4

[Former Member 14]

Fighting against spam can be quite a task, and there are a handful of groups out there that have done a lot such as https://www.projecthoneypot.org/ , however the problem is so widespread and the "data" has become so valuable, and the strong steps that should have been taken 15-20 years ago were completely overlooked, now it is more about trying to manage spam to a more reasonable level.

Sage advice in your post above.

In so far as HoneyPotProject, I used to run honeypots on my sites.

However, as you've commented (Rick), preventative steps should have been taken years ago.

I filter my email addys. Once I receive a spam, I'll add a filter for it. Yes that's a PITA, but not doing it, is an even bigger PITA. Spammers tend to use funky wording, or common spammy phrases. Hence, blocking that tends to eliminate a lot of spam. Been following this practice for a few years now, and thankfully, aside from the occasional cr#p getting through, most doesn't get past the front gate

[gil.langelaan]

Rick, that's really sad..

But thanks a lot for advice!
It really helpful!

[Pokerface]

These spammers are a real pain and try to manage, report, block where possible. Seems to come in waves. Lately the most annoying are the Skype Chinese spam requests. Always block and report but not sure that really helps or if it even can help.

[Nenad]

Thanks Rick for a thorough explanation and advice!

[Jambo]

Where and how do I report these spam harvesting schemers? They are the reason I keep getting emails and Skype spams from unknown so called affiliate managers...

Yes super annoying. Almost every day different skype spam requests.

[Jambo]

These spammers are a real pain and try to manage, report, block where possible. Seems to come in waves. Lately the most annoying are the Skype Chinese spam requests. Always block and report but not sure that really helps or if it even can help.

I think i reported already 100 Chinese spam requests. Unfortunately it does not help.

[Former Member 14]

I think i reported already 100 Chinese spam requests. Unfortunately it does not help.

Skype used to have the option of not listing your details.
EG - no one could use the member-search to find your userID. If you opted to remain hidden.

The only way a person could find you is IF they had your skype userID (name).

[fullbenefit]

Why is Skype not doing anything about it?!

[WBM]

This is the sad world we live in .. everything has a price.
For example when I used to generate secured loan leads many years ago I know that there were at least 3 top tier organisations that used to sell
data for individuals who were refused loans ..
These people were then no doubt bombarded by every tom, dick & harry offering loans available for bad credit..