Spam Tactics - Valerie Zalburn - Now if for some reason I’ve reached the wrong company
December 10th, 2008One of my clients sent me a spam email she received recently. This particular spam is worthy of note in my blog, because it attempts to fool the recipient into contacting the spam sender because they claim to have the wrong address and contact information. Take a gander:
Here’s the spam:
Hello this is Valerie Zalburn contacting you again about our Suite of Services. As a reminder, our Merchant V/MC Processing Organization had your contact information on file as we work with a number of companies around the Pet Supplies & Foods-Retail area and I wanted to see if we could send you some information in the mail and follow up with a telephone call.
Now if for some reason I’ve reached the wrong company, please still take a look at our programs and inform me if we could send more information.
We have your mailing address on file at: 6556 Mother Lode Dr in Placerville, CA and your telephone number at 5302951236 is this information still correct?
The funniest part, is the part where they say “Now if for some reason I’ve reached the wrong company…”, because it’s spam, of course they’ve reached the wrong company! If you put in a fake address like 6556 Mother Lode Drive, and a fake phone number - what are the chances that the company you are spamming actually has that email and address?
Pretty close to zero I’d imagine. So if you were the lucky receipient of an email from Valerie Zalburn, with a fancy title like Office and Marketing Director from a unknown company, wait, unknown company? Seriously, here’s the signature:
We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Regards,
Valerie Zalburn
Office and Marketing Director
Ohio Regional Office : 434 W. Corporate Drive
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
As I’ve mentioned before, the quickest way to spot fraudulent spam, is to see if you can find a real company, with a real address and real phone number.
Jill--------------
J. Olkoski
Aldebaran Web Design, Seattle
Jill Olkoski has a BS in Engineering, a BS in Computer Science and an MA in Clinical Psychology. She delights in using her advanced technical and psychological skills to help small business owners develop cost-effective and successful websites.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Obvious - but HOW do we stop SPAM??
February 18th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for the post. I have received 3 of these same messages since December and have tried to unsubscribe.
The latest message from “Valerie” says her tech folks
are working on fixing the problem, but in the mean time
can I interest you in….
I believe I received this message because my address appears on the local chamber of commerce website and they don’t blind copy or send by undisclosed recipient
when contacting members.
I am thinking Valery should be sent the junk folder.
P Helgeson
February 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I agree - Valerie should be sent to the junk folder.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Dear IWH, it might be obvious to you, but these spam emails are not always obvious to other folks. And you can’t stop spam. As long as you have an email address, you will get spam. The only way to stop spam is to keep your email address 100% private, never use it anywhere online, never give it to anyone. But then, that defeats the point of having an email address. Many email applications and hosting companies have spam filters as well. But asking how you can stop spam is like asking how can you stop junk mail.