Spam Emails
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Hi all
I have had gmail address for some years and very rarely get spam emails. Since I started comping 3 months ago and only uses sites such as these I am now swamped with them from companies that aren't even related to those comps I've entered. Anyone else had this please? - thanks
Unfortunately just recently a lot of comps from data harvesting sites have been posted and although they have been mentioned by a few of us and reported some still remain and the answer we got was that unless we can say they don't give prizes out they will be allowed to be posted but there are plans to have a warning on these comps.If you have been unlucky enough not to see the warnings in the comments from these comps then your details that you would have given would have been shared with many companies a lot of which are also data harvesting sites. I did put a warning in chat a while ago about them and showed 2 of these sites that said they would share your details with over 150 to 200 different companies.Not much we can do I am afraid just be wary and if certain sites want you to jump through hoops to enter and answer loads of questions then you are probably giving your details away to the wrong people. I have been comping a few years and know exactly what to look for but for those who are quite new to comping it can be very easy to be duped. I still get spam from comps but I have to say it is not that much really,I always tick not to receive third party communications but some spam is part and parcel of entering. Just be careful is the only advice there is really.
Here is the warning I gave and the list of companies just 2 of these sites share your details with. As you can see it is not good reading.
https://www.latestdeals.co.uk/chat/please-careful-giving-details
normally just do ones from daily express etc and always tick the dont contact box .. just delete emails without reading but its a total pain!
I have had a lot less spam over the last few days although the number of ordinary newsletters has not dropped as much as I expected.
I don't think that you can avoid it altogether if you do competitions, but there are sites that should absolutely be avoided (although unfortunately, as jinxyjinx says) some are allowed here.
There is a list of the main ones to avoid on Money Saving Expert's comp site or on Di Coke's blog although there are new ones that pop up. Avoid MyOffers but if you see one posted have a look at their form (do not fill any of it in as they take details even if you don't press enter) and look at the layout as a lot of the bad sites use the same layout. It goes beyond one page which is not usual for competions. Also avoid GetMeATicket and OfferX.
Be careful with new posters (you can tell as the first comment will be an introductory post from Tom) and don't be the first to enter. Wait until it has been there a while and see what other compers post in the comments.
You shouldn't have to think about any of this but unless there is a change of policy relating to these phishing sites, that is how it is.
My annoyance with emails recently are those about privacy. At least it seems it's come to an end, as I haven't received any today.
They had until the 25th May to comply with the new law. I have still had a couple today but they should stop now.
Those were driving me nuts. I came back from holiday to find over 400 emails waiting for me mostly about privacy.
You may also find this Chat useful. It’s all about using alternative details for entering competitions
Such as a different name and email but everyone already knows that although most that enter, just use their own real name/email.
Yes, I also have lots of emails like these and need to deal with them.
And I realized even if I block them they will send the mails from elsewhere.
You could try something like Unsubscribe me or cleanfox that unsubscribe you from them all with a couple of clicks, I have not used any of these yet but i was using Unrollme and that worked a treat unfortunately they have stopped it for european users since gdpr rules come in but it does say they will be back.
AgnesFaludi all emails from companies should really have a link for you to unsubscribe from but you are right not all allow you too.But for the ones you can a quicker way to do it rather than doing 1 by 1 is by using one of the above.
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