In order to reduce the volume of spam in your email, you have to make a decision on whether to chance being removed from a spam list, or possibly being added to others. The purpose of this page is to help you to know what to look for in the disclaimer message as well as the "From" email address on the email.
There are basically two ways spam is sent out over the internet. One way is for retailers to pay a mass mailing firm to include their message in their next mailing, or to send out a mailing on the retailers behalf. The other way is for a webmaster to purchase mass mailing software and obtain an email account with a popular server for the purpose of sending out his message. These accounts are often with Yahoo! or Hotmail and are usually closed within a day after the spam has been sent which usually invalidates the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom as well. "REPLY to this email with "REMOVE" in the subject line" will never be received by the original sender if the account has been closed. In some cases, the "Remove" address will be different from the senders address. When this is the case, I would suspect that the purpose of the second account is to collect CONFIRMED email address for future mailing lists. Clicking or replying to these kind of spam letters could have the reverse effect and only cause you more spam. They should be deleted.
In other cases, the disclaimer will give you the name of the mail firm sending the email to you with a sincere looking statement that says they subscribe to you rights to privacy and will remove you from their mailing list upon request. When you see this kind of message, then look at the "From" email addy at the top of the message. Did it come from a corporate domain, or from some fly by night outfit. Sometimes it's hard to tell. You can find out by putting the domain name in your browser window and go to their website. You should find something there if they are legit. In this case you can feel reasonably sure that by clicking on their "Remove" link, that you will be removed from any further mailings from them. If you aren't, then you know who to take action against for illegal spamming. Also, make a note of this domain name. You may have seen it before or will again and will remember it. That will tell you that this is a legitimate email firm who should cooperate with your request to be removed.
Now, let's look at some of these disclaimers.
You are receiving this email as an Internet Affiliate Network member. If you would no longer like to receive special promotions via email from Internet Affiliate Network, then click here to unsubscribe
Notice here that the emailer identifies themselves as "Internet Affillate Network". That name rang a bell with me so I checked and found another email in the past week using that service. I also seem to recall seeing that name at a website I recently visited as a partner. "tony@polbox.com" must be their client for this mailing. They seem to be a legitimate mass mailing firm so I will trust them to remove me from the mailing list and will click on the link. When I did, it took me to a webpage on their server which showed a statement confirming my deletion from the list. I feel comfortable with this one.
You are receiving this email because you registered at one of Stations Network's partner sites, and agreed to receive gifts and special offers that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive special offers in the future, please email unsub-stpt@cancun.stationsnetwork.com with your email address in the subject line.
You are registered as: techniguy@techniguy.com
I put two "From" addresses at the top of this one because I found this same disclaimer statement in two spam mails I received this past week. The only problem I have with this one is that in spite of what it says, I did not agree to receive gifts and special offers when I registered at whereever it was that they got my email addy. I may go back and try to find where they got it from and complain to that site for sharing it without my consent.
Again, here the mailer identifies themselves and even though the domain name in the "From" addys is different, they both use a similliar user name. One domain is a clients domain and the other is the emailers'. Remember, this was from two different emails. These appear to be legit and I expect to be removed from any further mailings from this service.
To be removed from this newsletter simply reply with the subject "remove"
Not a very convincing disclaimer here but look at the "From" address. The body of the email was a newsletter from the "Access Wall Street.com" website. I have received several of these before and will gladly reply to the email with "Remove" in the subject line and hope they do. If they don't, I know where to find them.
Did you receive an email advertisement in error? Our goal is to only target individuals who would like to take advantage of our offers. If you'd like to be removed from our mailing list, please click on the link below. You will be removed immediately and automatically from all of our future mailings. We protect all email addresses from other third parties. Thank you. Please remove me
This one looks sincere and legitimate, doesn't it? It may be, but with Hotmail in the senders address and no mass mailer identified in the disclaimer, I don't trust it. This one goes straight to discarded mail with no clicking of the remove link. However I am making a note of this disclaimer incase I see it again. I may want to bounce the message to see where the "remove" link is going to take me.
To remove, please send an email with "REMOVE" in the subject line to: mycash5@hotmail.com
This is obviously an amature operation using both Yahoo! and Hotmail. This may just be an innocent person trying to drum up business and comply with the law, but what are the chances that I will ever hear from this one again? Not likely, so I'm not going to take the chance and reply to that Hotmail account as it could be a catcher for confirmed email addys. Straight to discarded mail with this one.
Your privacy is extremely important to us. You requested to receive this mailing from DoortoDoorDeals.com. As a leader in permission-based email marketing, we are committed to delivering a rewarding experience to you. However, if you wish to unsubscribe, click here or copy and paste the following link into your web browser: http://www.doortodoordeals.com/unsubscribe.asp?emid=833&ds=30&email=TECHNIGUY@WEBTV.NET If you believe that you may have received this offer in error, please contact Customer Service at abuse@doortodoordeals.com
This one is really easy. How many times have you seen "DoortoDoorDeals.com" in your email. Probably at least a few times. There is no question about who is sending out this spam. They even envite you to complain to their abuse dept. lol. Yep.... I am no longer subscribed to DoortoDoorDeals.com. Don't even know how I got subscribed in the first place.
I would just like to add that it doesn't have to be you that is responsible for getting you on spam lists. Your friends could be doing it without even knowing it by leaving your email addy at sites thinking you will get a one time offer from them only. Tell you friends to never leave your addy or other personal information with any site without your permission.
