MarcWomack.com

I can’t STAND idiots!  I have a 73 year old mom and I’ve been trying like crazy to teach her proper email etiquette.  Teaching her to BCC instead of CC’ing.  Teaching her to delete email addresses listed on emails she forwards.  Generally trying to help her understand that leaving all those email addresses where they can be read by spyware is a BAD idea.

This morning I got to an email that came in Saturday that takes this problem to a whole new level.  The email was from S&R which is the local Costco / Sam’s Club equivalent.  I’m a member so I’m not freaked out about getting email advertisements.  Just your standard stuff, sale items, monthly specials, etc.  What blew my mind was the IDIOT woman that sent the latest one had attached 4 word documents containing the company’s ENTIRE email address list.  HOW STUPID!  Obviously someone emailed her the list and instead of opening a NEW email to send the mailer this moron just hit forward and forgot to delete the attachments.  Now OVER 6,300 email addresses have been blasted out to everyone on the list.

We ALL are going to get SO MUCH spam from this bone-headed move.  Not just b/c of virus/spyware but from the recipients of the mailer.  S&R is considered to be shopping for the rich folks over here.  The location for the store the mailer was promoting is Fort Bonifacio which is the ritziest neighborhood in Manila.  I can’t WAIT to  see how many “Buy a Condo in Fort Bonifacio” spams I get now!

So I’m slowly going through the entire email address list and blasting out a mailer of my own encouraging folks to contact S&R and demand this idiot be fired.  Heh, slowly because the morons they hired to encode the list are, well morons.  The addy’s have spaces in them, don’t have the .com, and tons have 2 instead of @ (b/c the mental midget forgot to hit the SHIFT key).

Anyway, here’s the letter I’m blasting out:

Hello,

Thanks to Ms. Susan Obien from S&R Membership Shopping’s absolutely idiotic mistake, you will now be receiving THOUSANDS of Spam and Spyware emails!  Let me explain.

On Saturday 7/25/09 Ms. Susan Obien (who is in charge of sending the email advertisements for S&R) sent out an email advertisement to over 6300 people.  The subject was S&R Membership Shopping – Bonifacio Global City.  The advertisement is not the problem.  She attached to this email four Microsoft Word Documents:

2006 email accounts.doc
2007 email accounts.doc
2008 email accounts.doc
2009 email accounts.doc

In these documents were S&R’s ENTIRE email list!  PLEASE understand what a HORRIBLE mistake this is.  Now over 6300 computers have your email address on them!  You WILL now receive more spam emails, viruses, and spyware in your inbox!  Spammers are very good at “harvesting” email addresses.  Generally anywhere from 15% to 30% of PC’s online are infected with their spyware.  This spyware scans all documents on the computer (like the Word documents Ms. Sobien sent), pulls out any email addresses it finds, then automatically sends out more emails containing spam and spyware software to those email addresses.

Not only will you be getting emails generated from spyware.  It’s a DAMN good bet that many of the over 6300 people who received YOUR email address are less than honest.  Think about it.  You are a member of S&R.  How many local companies would LOVE to target their advertisements to you?  You shop in the Fort Bonifacio area.  You have enough income to afford to shop at S&R.  How many “BUY A CONDO” emails do you think you’ll be getting now?

You provided your email address to S&R trusting that they would be professional and keep that information confidential.  Ms. Sobien has violated that trust in the most grievous way possible.  This must NOT be tolerated!  I STRONGLY encourage you to TAKE ACTION!  Simply emailing Ms. Sobien (soben@snrshopping.com) is not enough!  Contact her superiors and DEMAND her termination.  NO employee who has access to your contact information should be working for ANY company when he or she can make such a stupid mistake!

Contact S&R:

Email: info@snrshopping.com

Phone: (02) 888-0433 loc 108, 109

Bonifacio Global City Location: 32^nd Street, 5^th Avenue, Bonifacio, Global City, Taguig City, Philippines (Phone (02) 888-0640)

If anyone receiving this email knows any government officials in charge of handling prosecutions against companies who grossly violate protection of customer information please do reply back and let me know!

In closing I apologize for emailing you.  I am technically spamming you right now.  But please forgive this as I’m trying to make help you and the more than 6,300 other people ensure this type of mistake never happens again.  Sadly, but thanks to Ms. Sobien’s inaptitude this email will be FAR from the only spam you get!

Regards,

Marc Womack