After we posted yesterday about a T-Mobile customer being greeted by pictures of topless women when he logged into his account to pay his bill, some of you asked, “What’s the problem?” Several readers’ stories answer that question. (Censored but not exactly tasteful pictures inside.) UPDATE: T-Mobile response inside.
spam
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Payless Shoesource For Text Message Spamming
By 11.4.09
Peter, who wrote in last month to complain about being text-spammed by Payless Shoesource on his phone, wasn’t the only customer they annoyed. A man in California has filed a class action lawsuit against the shoe company and Voice & Mobile Broadcast Corporation, which is the marketing company it hired to run the campaign.
Facebook Sues Spammer; Wins $711 Million
By 10.31.09
Facebook won $711 million in a lawsuit against a notorious spammer. Don’t cheer too hard, though. The same spampresario owes MySpace $234 million for the same thing.
Customer Gets Payless To Compensate Him For Text Message Spam
By 10.23.09
Peter was pretty frustrated when Payless Shoesource ignored his two opt-out texts and continued to pester him with SMS spam. His complained via email and got taken off their list, but then he decided to see if he could get back the money those texts cost him.
Now Report Spammers On Twitter With A Single Click
By 10.13.09
It used to be that when you were followed by a spammer on Twitter, you had to go report them by sending a direct message to Twitter’s official spam account. Now they’ve updated their reporting system, so all it takes is a single click. Have fun turning in the bots!
Comcast To Warn You If Your Zombie Computer Is Secretly Spamming People
By 10.9.09
Where does spam come from? Well, there are these things called botnets. They’re networks of hijacked computers that secretly do the bidding of their masters. Often, they send out spam. Comcast plans to offer an automated service that will inform you, within your browser, if your computer is behaving as if it has been compromised by malware.
10 Extinct Twitter-Types Thanks To New Terms Of Service
By 9.16.09
Instead of cranking out cumbersome terms of service Magna Cartas that only lawyers will actually read, Twitter should follow the lead of Mashable and just come out and say what types of users it’s attempting to get rid of.
Watch Out For Pointless Self-Replicating Spam Facebook Application
By 8.21.09
Watch out for “[A friend] commented on a photo of you” notifications on Facebook. If you click on the notification and it asks you to install an application called “Your Photos,” RUN AWAY. Your friend didn’t comment on any photos of you, and the application exists to coax people to click on banner ads.
Scammers Get Over-Ambitious With Fake FBI Letter
By 8.20.09
We guess if you’re gonna create a failure pile, make it a big one. This email that pretends to be from FBI director Robert S. Mueller has the typical scammy touches: strange grammatical issues, unexpected shifts between formal and casual voices, a complete lack of understanding of how US government offices actually work, and an “official” gmail address. We were ready to send our information to them until we got to the end, where the letter threatens you with arrest if you don’t play along. Now they’re just getting silly.
Crazy CSR Loves Spam, You, Hanging Up Abruptly
By 8.14.09
Megan sent us this transcript of a recent phone conversation she had with someone from a mysteriously generic “cardholder services” that called her.
Apple Bans Bushel Of Spam Apps
By 8.4.09
Apple has shaken the App Store tree until several hundred questionable, over-priced apps that drew customer complaints have fallen off the branches.
Post Cereal, Please Stop Spamming Anthony
By 7.31.09
Anthony has tried every means possible to get Post to stop spamming him, but Post laughs in the face of reason. And at customer requests. The only thing Anthony feels he has left to try is contacting the FTC, but he adds “I get the feeling that won’t help.”
Company Apologizes, Hilariously, For Mail Merge Screwup
By 7.29.09
Everyone knows that the “personal touch” of using your name in an email, printed letter, or CSR call is powered by a database and a computer, and not really personal at all. Still, when a company gets it wrong it can be annoying. When a company gets it wrong, then apologizes by sending a follow-up message that makes you smile, all can be forgiven.
Amazonfraudcheck.com Is Amazon Fraud
By 7.27.09
No, Amazon is not contacting its members and performing regular fraud checks. Jason received this e-mail, which is associated with a rather convincing Amazon phishing site.
Why Is Spam Around? Because 12% Of Readers Actually Try To Buy The Stuff
By 7.17.09
Why, in a rational world, does spam continue to exist? Because someone you know—or maybe it’s you—has actually tried to buy something from it, a new study finds. Find that person and beat him (or yourself) with a stapler.
Magic Diet Product Scams Invade Freecycle And Meetup Groups
By 7.14.09
Beware! Affiliate spammers have infiltrated innocent online groups, looking to take advantage of the people who haven’t yet heard that “free” trials of magic diet foods are a scam.
Warning, iDrive Lite Spams All Your Gmail Contacts Without Your Permission
By 7.9.09
Don’t install the iPhone app iDrive Lite if you value the privacy of your contact list. Avi Muchnick, one of the developers behind the free, consumer-friendly online graphics suite Aviary, used iDrive to backup his Gmail contact list when switching to a new phone. The next day, he awoke to discover that iDrive’s parent company, Pro Softnet Corp, had spammed every single entry in his contact list without his permission.
