I have a strong dislike of spam and spammers.
On one level I am an email user, so their junk could clog up my inbox and waste my time. I may not read the rubbish, but deleting stuff that actually gets past my filters takes up time I could spend doing other things...
On another level I have no respect for the people who use spam to promote their business.
It doesn't matter if they are competing with me or not. Spam is a lazy and unimaginative way of marketing and people who resort to it should be treated as pariahs.
In any case last night was a case in point.
For the second time in the last few months I got a "charming" spam from an Irish "web design company"
Apart from the obvious fact that I'm big enough and ugly enough to find web designers when I need them (I think most people probably are ie. it's not one of those things that you purchase on a whim) the "designer" in question is second rate at best.
They're also not very good at spamming.
The opening line is really bad:
To whom it may concern
That's just plain lazy. Couldn't you try to be a little bit more inventive? If I was going to start spamming people I'd use much catchier opening lines.
Of course this idiot can't spell either, which is just annoying. Would you hire a "designer" who can't tell the difference between "whether" and "weather"?
The humble apostrophe also gets plenty of abuse at the hands of this genius:
Are Prices are very competitive but our design's always have the wow factor.
What's an always? I didn't think it could own anything ...
"Wow factor" has been upgraded to part of the English language I see.. How charming!
But the bit that really makes me giggle is the last line:
This email was sent according to the guidelines of the Data Protection Commissioner All recipients of this mail were compiled from online directories therefore given permission to be contacted via email.
Oh dear oh dear.
I somehow doubt the Data Protection Commissioner would agree. In fact I know they wouldn't.
If you do get an email from this spammer please report him to his hosting provider. People like this shouldn't be allowed waste space on the internet.
If you do want web design then check out professionals like Edenweb, Forbairt, SpoiltChild, Communicraft, Curratech and many more... At least they don't spam people instead of doing proper marketing!
Abusing Data Privacy Legislation - Irish Spammers Trying To Act Cute
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About this Entry
This page contains a single entry by Michele Neylon published on August 8, 2007 8:32 AM.
Nokia N95 Quick Review was the previous entry in this blog.
Photo Bloggers Unite! is the next entry in this blog.
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I hope they weren't offering to look after your copy writing or email marketing :O)
Peter
Heh :)
M
Lol, good sass-back at that spammer!
I'd love to get those spammers right where it hurts, but don't know how, other than blacklisting them using the Mailwasher program. I've read that getting to them at the sites hosting them is more effective than simply blocking their mail, but don't know how to manage that. I won't click on sites they tell me to and give them more hits plus run the risk of offing my computer with whatever spyware malware crap one can get from clicking a bad link.
One of the more creative subject lines I got from a spammer said that Saddam Hussein was alive. *Snicker* How stupid do spammers think the average email user is anyway?
Spammers get told off and ripped apart in one of my blogs, and blacklisted by Mailwasher. You're right, they can't spell worth a damn. Many can't put together a coherent phrase. They must have their own special society, maybe even their own planet where they speak a combination of poor English and Jibberish.
Hi Michelllle or whome it mey koncirn
Thatz sumfink that alwayz gets my goat. When u get thopse peiple who fink u can juzt email him out for the blu ande ecspekt to gate a responce to a sloppilie wurded beggin lettr.
Ralph
My poor eyes! :)
Michele
Lol no kidding, point taken. Ralph's demonstration of spam-speak just caused part of my monitor to die.