...previous
Anyway, when it happens to you, you'll need some letters to send out to both the spam victims and the company responsible for the spam. Here are the two I used this past week, feel free to save them for future reference and modify them as necessary to fit your situation if and when it arises..
Letter to spam recipients:
Thank you for contacting us. Here is an update on the unfortunate situation...
The spam you received originated from the domain . Rest assured you have NOT been added to any email lists at our site. We do NOT use nor do we condone the use of unsolicited bulk email and we too, are innocent bystanders in this situation.
We are in no way affiliated with the offending website and along with your address, our addresses were on their spam list. They have apologized for the incident and any further actions you wish to take should be directed to them. More details on this incident are available at the following URL: http://www.bizweb2000.com/aug4spam.htm
Best regards, Jim Daniels
www.bizweb2000.com
And here's a letter you can use as a model when you need to contact the party responsible for your grief... (Actually, as you'll see, the site in this instance may be getting off a bit easy. Many folks in my position would press charges and seek damages. But after speaking with the person responsible in this case, I'll probably just bill them for the time I spent fielding angry emails. After all he's in quite a bit of hot water already and his site was shut down.)
Dear Offending Website Owner Name,
I have copied the headers of an email message sent by your user, which confirms your email activity on Friday August 4, 2000. Your actions have resulted in literally thousands of complains to our email addresses at bizweb2000.com. Please take the following actions immediately:
a) explain of how this incident took place and why
b) take measures to insure that this NEVER happens again
c) notify every address on your list that bizweb2000.com was not responsible and was an innocent bystander in this unfortunate situation
Please reply to this email message before the close of business on or we will be forced to pursue further action. We will also expect a full letter of explanation mailed or faxed to our offices.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Regards, Jim Daniels
President - bizweb2000.com
And closing today's column, here are a few more tips to help you avoid trouble with unsolicited email...
- If you have an opt-in list, keep every opt-in request you ever receive. I keep opt-in requests dating back years. On several occasions I have been able to provide proof of signup to someone who forgot they joined and accused me of sending unsolicited email. These email "receipts" also come in handy with ISPs and web hosts.
- Keep your email addresses from being harvested at your website by using a tool that encodes your email addresses. It's a great way to cut down on spam and avoid situations like the one I ran into! See the following URL for a free encoding service: www.siteup.com/encoder.html
- At your site, state your policy on spam very clearly. It's also a good idea to post reports of any incidents at the same area of your site. See our own privacy statement for an example of how you can set this up.
Well, this closes a rare, not-so-fun chapter in online marketing. Hopefully today's tip will help you avoid trouble or save you a bit of time if and when trouble does arrive.
About the Author
Jim Daniels owns http://bizweb2000. If you're starting or growing a business online, Jim's new five page Web guide cuts through the hype and reveals what you need to know. Access it right now here.
All articles published on EthanCote.com are copyrighted by their respective author. They are not to be taken without the consent of the author.
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