The site is www.wordofmouthconnection.com. Essentially, they are telling me that a few days ago, someone put up my e-mail address on the site looking for info. A couple of days later, someone else apparently wrote in and said they have some information to relate about my business.
The thing is, the e-mail address that was listed is my “info@” address on the website, and has never been used as any kind of an active e-mail address; that is, never used for sending, but for gathering general inquiries alone. It gets forwarded to my main e-mail account and any reply comes from that.
This leads me to believe that this WOMC website has just been spidering the 'net looking for e-mail addresses and then sending info that someone is talking about you in order to get you to visit their site.
This is an old class of spam. They might not just want you to visit their site. if you reply in any manner, sich as asking them to cease sending you notices, they’ll know they have a live one e-mail address who doesn’t ingnore unsolicited e-mail.
I do not have information about this specific site, except that it is a Philippines company that runs several similar sites
Registrant:
WORD-OF-MOUTH LLP
SIVERANO MIRABUENO
STO NINO VILLLAGE
UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
DAVAO CITY, DAVAO DEL NORTE 8000
PH
Administrative Contact:
KESTLER, PETER SUPPORT@WORDOFMOUTHCONNECTION.COM
SIVERANO MIRABUENO
STO NINO VILLLAGE
UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
DAVAO CITY, DAVAO DEL NORTE 8000
PH
+6.39185653118
Technical Contact:
KESTLER, PETER SUPPORT@WORDOFMOUTHCONNECTION.COM
SIVERANO MIRABUENO
STO NINO VILLLAGE
UPPER PEIDAD, TORIL
DAVAO CITY, DAVAO DEL NORTE 8000
PH
+6.39185653118
Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 15-Sep-2003.
Record expires on 02-Aug-2004.
Record Created on 02-Aug-2003.
There’s no question that the email message you received is spam.
Spam is not bulkmail. Spam is not pyramid schemes. It’s not unwanted ads, or fake penis-enlargement drug offers, or nigerian financial scams. (Many spammers really want us to believe that spam is only these, and hope that we also believe that carefully directed normal ads are not spam as well.)
“Spam” means commercial email which is unsolicited. If an advertiser sends you any email message at all, and you didn’t request that they do so, then that message is spam.
PS
The reason that spam exists is very, very simple. People respond to spam. People fume at all the crap ads, but then when they receive spam for something they want, THEY BUY IT. They buy things from spammers. So, if you’ve ever received an unsolicited email ad and then bought some worthwhile software or cheap vitamins or discount cameras, then YOU are the direct cause of all spam everywhere. Simple. But nobody wants to face this fact.
People respond to unsolicited commercial emails. That’s why spammers send them. Spammers easily survive because most of us reason thus: “if the unsolicited email ad is for something I want, then it’s not spam.” Yeah, right. Keep telling yourself that.