Sadly I’m in a position to write quite a lot of posts like these. Having seen spam to unique email addresses for Amazon and Play.com, on 5th March I received one from a email used to register with groupon.co.uk, which I created in August 2011. Others have spotted this too: says one, “getting several e-mails a day about Ruby Palace and an online pharmacy”, another: “I’m getting Ruby Palace spam too, despite no longer taking part in Groupon business”, and: “how did MyCityVenue and Wix.com get hold of my Groupon e-mail address”? Similar reports here, here and here.
Here’s the offending mail item:
Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2013 <time removed> From: Ruby Online Casino <no-reply@wavesports.nl> To: <unique Groupon-only domain address> Subject: You've been selected to receive a Ruby Palace Welcome BonusHi, Youre the lucky recipient of our 200% Welcome Bonus.
Register with Ruby Palace today and well triple your first deposit.
You can capitalise on your extra cash and play on a variety of classic casino games in our
safe, fair and fun gaming environment.We hope to see you in the casino soon.
Regards
http://www.qlandrubygrand.pl/
If you wish to stop receiving communication from us, please click here:
http://unsubscribe.qplusrubydream.pl
Admittedly, it’s worth noting the failure could be with Groupon affiliates or providers, rather than the company itself. On Facebook they say they’re investigating, so I’ll keep an eye out.
Updates
21st March: received another item, so for the benefit of the search engines:
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 <time removed> From: Ruby Palace Online <no-reply@vanhienen.nl> To: <unique Groupon-only domain address> Subject: You've been invited to join Ruby PalaceHi!
Ruby Palace would like to invite you to join our world of winning.
Register for an online gaming experience like no other and well give you a 200% Welcome Bonus to get you started.
Fun, reliable and safe – gaming simply doesnt get any better.
Sign up today and profit from the start!
Regards Ruby Palace Casino!
http://www.irubypalaceextraline.pl/
Click here to opt out of this email:
http://unsubscribe.iartnetrubygrand.pl
23rd March: And… another one, this time for pharmaceuticals:
Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2013 <time removed> From: "Huge discount" <ops_invoice@adp.com> To: <unique Groupon-only domain address> Subject: Final 73% discount for <alias>Dear <alias>, hurry up! Only 1 day huge discount!
More than 10.000 pills online.
BestSellers:
*** Porpecia – 0.16$
*** Levitr – 1.67$
*** Ciails – 1.75$
*** Vaigra – 0.87$Buy here http://kqq.doctorbrok.ru/
And another, this one even sports a UK address!
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 <time removed> From: Cindy McCall <list@usnd1.com> To: <unique Groupon-only domain address> Subject:The natural way to reduce fat by 85%.Dear members,
Are you sick and tired of all the weight loss tips and tricks that just don’t work? Are you nervous about all of the diet pills you’ve tried with all sorts of scary chemicals in them? Don’t you wish that you had a natural, powerful alternative that makes weight loss easy?
If your answer is “YES” to any of those questions then I’ve got just what you need to make you look great and feel great!
http://www.uclick8.com/33/<unsubcode>
Best Regards
Cindy McCallEasy Marketing Pro PLC 25 Jupiter House, Calleva Park, Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 8NN United Kingdom
You received this newsletter because you subscribed to receive emails from us or our partners. Do you want to stop receiving emails from us? Unsubscribe Instantly.
http://feedback.usnd1.com/user/3/unsubscribe/<unsubcode>
Yikes. This item, received on 21st October, shows how openly nasty these hawkers actually are. Avoid being “fat and ugly” and a “hideous creature” by purchasing their product!
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 From: Dr. Weil's Daily Tip To: <unique Groupon-only domain address> Subject: Healthy Recipe: Lose up to 4-7kg per week!View this message online http://05.fatburnsteblog.eu/?redir=trackingcode
Daily Tip
Monday 10/21/2013
Nobody wants to be fat and ugly
We do not mean a dozen of extra kilograms that turn a skinny person into a plump one. We speak of scores and scores of kilograms that turn people into hideous creatures whose bodies are repulsive and whose lives are hopeless. Every obese person had failed in losing weight many times before giving up. The matter is that diets and gyms work ok but they do not control your appetite! You need a formula that makes your brain stop sending excessive hunger signals to your stomach and melt fat for you. Take it regularly and lose up to 20 kg a month! Try out this product today!
http://05.fatburnsteblog.eu/?redir=trackingcodeUNSUBSCRIBE & MANAGE YOUR PROFILE
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http://05.fatburnsteblog.eu/?redir=trackingcode .You are currently subscribed to Dr. Weil’s Daily Tip as: (email).
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….Weil Lifestyle, LLC, PO Box 24762, Tempe, AZ 85285
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http://05.fatburnsteblog.eu/?redir=trackingcode
The same thing has happened to me on an account only used for Groupon. I have up to 10 emails a day from Ruby Palace.
Thanks Kev. Only a few for me thus far, thankfully – and since I use separate aliases I can block them if they get annoying.
I wonder if Groupon has made a statement yet? “Investigating” was the last one – that was Amazon’s trick too :).
Hi,
I’m getting them too.
I’ve had this mailaccount for years and almost no spam (except for the occasional Nigerian one) yet since 2012 I’m flooded, mainly with online casino crap.
A few things:
–All their spam is cc’d to lots of other yaoo.ca mail-addys.
–I have another yahoo.ca account which I only used once. This one and my main addy both were in one mail.
–Yahoo.ca is the only online venue where I registered under my real name. I have been getting personalised spam, addressing me by my real 1st name.
What gives?
I sympathise, it is indeed frustrating!
If you can prove that a particular provider has leaked your data (such as having one email address per provider) and the provider in question is reputable, then it is worth complaining, if only to help them work out the source of the leak. However, if your only evidence is that your first name has been used, you may find that whoever you complain to will say that it could have been leaked for several parties, since several institutions are likely in possession of it.
If you don’t currently have a domain and one alias per provider, I can recommend it as a good way to cut down on spam! 🙂
[…] also reported here: http://blog.jondh.me.uk/2013/03/suspected-data-leak-at-groupon/ […]
[…] have experienced much the same, including Pete Harris, JonBlog and several people in this comment […]
thank for info. me to, but now it is in swedish, selling that kind of wierd weigh loss drug. if i klick on their link , what will happen? will i get super spammed then? get quorious at wierd things, is it safe to find a blog like this and answer?
hmmm.. strange new computor world…
Hi Kristina
I don’t recommend you click on any links in spam you receive. Reputable firms will honour unsubscribe requests, but firms like my examples above (unscrupulous gambling site operators, pharma/diet hawkers and pyramid scheme promoters etc) will generally spam you more if you confirm the address as active.
One approach you can take (depending on whether you use an email program or web mail) is to train your email system to recognise spam. Some of them will allow you to click on an email and choose a “this is spam” option, so that it will learn that you do not wish to see this kind of email.