wso's - what are they doing with our email addresses?

I could not agree with you more. I made this mistake on earlier WSO's I created and have gotten better with it and feel I provide great value so they want to hear from me again.

Thanks RySpencer!

John

Agreed.

A majority of the emails that come daily are for affiliate promotions of others products.

Most people don't swap their buyers lists. I sure don't. That's actually unethical and illegal (depending on how they are doing it...)

Rob

Hi Mick, I hear you loud and clear, there are a few around here who really need a good quick swift kick up the NUTS!

There's one in particular that's constantly spamming - even though I have un-subscribed from one list, then another list, bought a product from them once. Big mistake. (and now never will again, no matter what the offer is).


I've started to report their emails as spam to Google. Even if their real P.O. Box address ends in the UK or Canada! - Guess who! (Not just one, but two of them. )

I've also made a mental note, never to buy off these people again, no matter what they are offering.

Reminds self, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Ditto I have had trouble unsubscribing from a few, the spam just keeps coming.

On the plus side the Paypal email address that I use for buying WSOs I really only ever check to see Paypal receipts and get download links, so most of the rubbish mail in there never even gets opened

It's a real pain in the butt, so this is what I do when I am not sure if the seller is trustworthy or not:

1. Do not use your PayPal account balance to pay for it because then you are using your PayPal email address.

2. Create a new email address, then use PayPal to pay for the WSO using a credit card (without logging in to your PayPal account). Now you use that new email address for the purchase.

What I do is create a new email address then forward it to my regular email. That way if the new address ever gets spammed I simply delete the forwarder.

.

mh, but you'd need a separate paypal email, too.

The WSO forum can not enforce these rules on the sellers behalf. It is up to the individual to adhere to the Can Spam Act. If they are not doing so then report them to the authorities. It is a VERY serious offense and people can be fined large amounts of money and jail time.

The more reports the faster action will be taken against them. Or just keep allowing their emails to come and mark them as spam every time so their emails don't get through to as many people.

If people are spamming others and NOT acknowledging unsubscribe requests then I see no reason as to why we should not be able to name and shame those operators here.

Have to agree with that. It's off putting and as this thread shows, it's putting people off buying WSO's.

Still, it's the people doing it that's ruining it for others. The warrior plus affiliate program should have a place for folks to forward spam too. Then again, the moderators, (if there are any) would be inundated.

Shame.

You can try to unsubscribe, but it does nothing with these lists... they don't honor the unsubscribe request.

And you're wrong that normal WSO's sellers don't put you on their list.

Yep, and it smacks of low-ball shysterism.

Mal, In some cases, that's not new.

But I digress.

They're into the incestuous infighting now. They KNOW they're going up against everyone else who's promoting WSOs as affiliates, so they have to do whatever they think of as "upping their game." Same cycle we always see in this industry. Mostly lame people trying to compete on volume (meaning: noise) and price (meaning: price).

The bonus wars are already well under way. Alleged "hundreds of dollars worth of bonuses in return for buying this $12 WSO through my link!" If they follow the usual trend, they'll soon be cutting their own throats "for FREEEEEE!"

We've got the mini-pseudo-cartels, the desperate wannabes, the self-described Kingmakers, the consultants, the Kings of the Hill, and the occasional outright scammers. Plus the spammers. All bleating for attention from the same crowd.

I wouldn't touch that circus with someone else's 10' pole.

On the flip side, we've got a ton of really great offers, which is a huge benefit for the folks who are sharp enough to know a diamond when they see it. Some of the best deals I've seen in 17 years are in that section right now.

A mixed bag indeed.


Paul

Dave,

There is no logical sense to the notion that we condone this stuff. I can see someone who doesn't know how the various systems work getting that idea, though.

What people need to understand is that the forum has no actual part in the transactions. The money and the customer data are handled by the merchants, their payment processors, and whatever affiliate system they use, if any.

Once you enter into a transaction with a merchant, it's out of our hands.

We do have leverage if the merchant breaks the rules here, but only to the extent that we can refuse their ads in the future or ban them from the forum. That would likely be enough to deter the people who sell a lot under their own names, but it means nothing to anonymous creeps or someone who's willing to commit fraud under a fake name.

We can get tough on it as far as the rules, but there is absolutely nothing we can do to protect people from the consequences of buying candy from a stranger for $7 a bag, whether it's here or somewhere else.

There was one potential leak that might have been responsible for some of this stuff, and didn't necessarily involve any knowing leaks by direct sellers. Affiliates stuffing cookies for W+ in the WSO threads themselves. Since those payments are rotated, the affiliates would get some customers' email addresses via Paypal receipts. Mike has plugged that leak, and it doesn't seem likely it's responsible for much, if any, of this problem. Still, something to consider.

There are reasons for recommendations like "Be picky about who you approve as an affiliate," or JV Zoo's option to delay payments to affiliates. That stuff isn't there for kicks and giggles.

In that regard, there is some responsibility on the merchants' parts, but only if the leaks are from new or unknown sellers. If there are better known names involved, that's a whole other issue. That one is easily solved.


Paul

We have added the following to the rules for the WSO section:

11. Anyone caught selling, trading or otherwise giving out the email addresses of their WSO customers will be banned from the forum. (Added April 8, 2012.)

You are still responsible for making your own decisions about your privacy, folks. We won't be able to completely stop this stuff here, any more than it's been completely stopped anywhere else.

But we can make it a bit more expensive.


Paul

I suspect someone whose list I opted out recently from sold my email address, because within days, I'm getting all kinds of nifty spam emails that I was not getting before. The problem is, how do I prove it? I don't think I can.

Paul, thanks you for adding that new rule. Hopefully it will make people think twice before pulling a stunt like this.

Thanks for sharing this Paul.

Some good tips for newbies setting up there auto-responder series here.

And in regards to the OP question...where money is concerned the "less scrupulous" will try every dirty trick in the book to make money and this is the primary driver.

They are not there to help people or enhance peoples lives with their products or services. They just want to rake in as much money as quickly as possible.

You could always subscribe them to every paid survey scam around...LOL

Cheers

Anton

Paul, unfortunately I deleted most of them, however I do have one saved to my hard drive that shows just that being the "modus operandi". I'll pm it to you.

Brian, thanks, but I'm not sure I really understand your statement, would you like to have the information I am going to send to Paul?