Just got to the bottom of where my recent spate of spam was coming from
Turns out that Arian Flux has sold my bloody details on to a bunch of spammers and there's FA I can do about it now I'm on the spammers
database that is being sold left right and center
Glad I have never used them
Never would now
If asking for a quote from them, best to give false details eh...
Rant over
thats interesting, more detail, why cant you do anything about it? how did you prove it was them?
Under the DPA, they have to give you the chance to opt into their selling of data scheme - they're not allowed to take your details and pass them
onto a 3rd party not directly related to the service they're offering, so they can pass your details onto (say) an insurance company if
they're a broker, as otherwise you wouldn't get a quote. They can't tho, just sell those details without you allowing them to. Some web
forms have the box for this ticked by default, but you should be able to untick it. You should have recourse through the information commissioner if
you think (and can provide reasonable proof) that AF have sold your details on without your permission.
On your last point - giving incorrect details to an insurance company is a criminal offence, so be careful how far you go with that!
Cheers
Vince
Not ilegal for a quote though?
It is only if you take a policy out under faulse pretenses.
Darren
Spoke to the spam database owners directly (The Trading Floor) - and they revealed where my data was initially submitted from (and what details) as I
was playing merry hell about who gave them permission to send me (un) targetted spam
So far I have had a few spams come though, so far the ones that stick in my mind are Littlewoods and Visa, so not very well targetted so far and I
have complained directly to the companies they were advertising, and will do so to each and every other spam I get as they are obviously under the
impression that its OK to spam as long as they "buy the database in good faith"
They cannot just remove my details (something about they have to hold me on a database to supress the spam, removing my details completely would put
me in jeapordy of being put back on)
I am fuming about this as I am pretty precious about giving my email addresses out, and have ALWAYS made sure before submitting any webforms to the
select few companies I did entrust with my email address, that all checkboxes for not selling my details on are set to "never contact me and do
not sell my details on"...you know what I mean
Maybe it was hidden somewhere, maybe I did miss it this time...either way, I'm proper gutted that they have done this and guess the only way
forward is to change my email address - all for a bloody quote that was way more expensive than I currently get
It doesn't always pay to shop around eh
[Edited on 10/12/09 by robocog]
Spam is easy to block we get virtually none.
(1) Get a Good ISP that has decent mail box filtering.
(2) Use Thunderbird for email and turn on the junk filters.
(3) Install Andrew Keir's K9, set it up to use the stricter black hole lists and train it to recognise known email senders and wanted mail.
(4) Set rules up in Thunderbird up to use the Junk markers put on the mail headers by K9 and other spam filters such as Spam Assassin so it will
not open or down load or open the stuff you don't want but send it straight to trash.
(5) Monitor what K9 is doing and continue to train it
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Spam is easy to block we get virtually none.
(1) Get a Good ISP that has decent mail box filtering.
(2) Use Thunderbird for email and turn on the junk filters.
(3) Install Andrew Keir's K9, set it up to use the stricter black hole lists and train it to recognise known email senders and wanted mail.
(4) Set rules up in Thunderbird up to use the Junk markers put on the mail headers by K9 and other spam filters such as Spam Assassin so it will not open or down load or open the stuff you don't want but send it straight to trash.
(5) Monitor what K9 is doing and continue to train it
BT Running my own mail server
Got greylisting going on so it blocks the guys not using proper email clients, and instantly reduced spam to zero....till now, which is why I'm
mad as hell about it
I could add their IP to the spammers list, but TBH they wil have long since sold my address on to others with proper email clients that will get past
the greylist
also running with
"reject_rbl_client sbl-xbl.spamhaus.org"
Like I say I was getting loads of spam, which just all stopped once I configured greylisting and followed instructions I found on Postfixes anti spam
settings
also running T'Bird as mail client and yes spam filtering is on
Will see if K9 will work with postfix
Waste yet more day off RTFM'ing because of Flux....grumble grumble
[Edited on 10/12/09 by robocog]
Spam filters are good, but they can also accidentally filter out things that genuinely should be getting through.
It won't help for this case, but you could help reduce spam in the future either by using, say, a gmail account for getting quotes then giving
the "normal" email address only once you have got a policy or what I do, which is I have got my own domain name (via 1&1 - only about a
tenner a year or something). It includes 5 (I think) email accounts, so I have one "normal" address which I give to friends, etc. and one
catch-all address. You set it up as "*@xxxxxxx.co.uk", then all emails sent to anything @xxxxxxx.co.uk get picked up. When I am getting a
quote or signing up for something, I give an email address like say "simon-confused@xxxxxxx.co.uk". That way, if I ever start getting spam,
I have a pretty good idea where it originated and can change the email address just for that company, then add the original address to my junk mail
settings so it automatically gets stripped out.
Hope that makes sense.
Simon
oh no...ad flux gave me the only bearable quote
Just looked up K9 and its POP3 only
I'm running IMAP
Cheers for the heads up though
Would rather it be done at the server end so switching PC's here stays simples
I'll just have to ride it out till I get removed from the "Live database" and hope that Spamhaus catches up with the b*stards
Just looking into how to get the ones I know about listed as they obviously have not been marked as spammers... yet
Cheers Flux
it wont hep you now but... if you have a domain with multiple e-mail addresses.
whenever you get a quote say from AF.. you a e-mail address for AF@yourdonwnamehere.whatever
even it it gets forwarded to you normal e-mail box.
you can easily then trace who sold your details !!! and have a comeback on them
quote:
Originally posted by yellow melos
it wont hep you now but... if you have a domain with multiple e-mail addresses.
whenever you get a quote say from AF.. you a e-mail address for AF@yourdonwnamehere.whatever
even it it gets forwarded to you normal e-mail box.
you can easily then trace who sold your details !!! and have a comeback on them
Aparently I have got a piece of paper winging its way over to me in the post with evidence that I submitted my email address and gave express
permission for it to be sold on and abused at will
Not a lot I can do about it now, other than warn others
Just /really/ glad I hadn't taken this years policy with them, otherwise I would have wasted even more of my day off on the phone to cancel my
policy....
...just as the sun comes out :-)
Makes next years decision a no brainer then
I've also had spam from "The Trading Floor" which I *know* came from a car insurer after just a quote (in this case Performance
Direct). I know this as I have my own domain and so often put the companies name as my first part of the email address - if the buggers then sell it
on I can spot straight away who did it.
I've not been able to unsubscribe from the emails and when I gave Performance Direct a rollocking they were less than interested.
Fortunately for me I get very few of them so it doesn't bother me. Perhaps my ISP is filtering them out before I get to see them.
not much spam gets into my inbox these days, and I've had the same hotmail acount for more than 10 years 
(I'm also with AF)
Hobbsy, give Zoe Vine a call at "The Trading Floor" 0870 428 4600
Tell her Rob recommended you ...LOL
I spoke to her a coupe of times today to try and find out who sold my details to them and to whom she may have sold my details to in a vein attempt at
getting off the spam list
She's friendly enough (just completely missguided as to whether the public want spam)
She was the only person willing to divulge who did the bin rummage thing for cash (otherwise I would be still oblivious)
Flux have promised me that someone will call me Saturday AM to try and make my private details a bit less public
The phone call to Flux was a bit easy, so I assume they have encountered this before and its not the first time
Remember to always take the tick out of "sell my identity whenever we need more moneys" checkbox
Interesting, as I too have been getting stuff from The Trading Floor.
I wondered who they were.
They are currently in my blacklist!
Gocompare do it too, junk box suddenly gets busier after getting quotes from them. Nowadays I put my old phone number in too after getting several calls about life insurance