LinkedIn Spam Lawsuit Can Continue

Charliemopps (1157495) writes "A lawsuit filed in September 2013 in the Northern District of California alleged that LinkedIn misled its users about the number of times it would attempt to invite their contacts using their name. LinkedIn tried to get the suit dismissed but Thursday Judge Lucy Koh ruled the suit can continue."

Re:

[antdude]

I saw it a few days ago, but then I found out my /. cookies got deleted and had to manually log in again. I told it to use classic theme.

they become aggresive...

[sponse]

...once they build a community.
They "offer" you to be in contact with all e-mail address book every time you login.
They also send you mails that looks as if contact of your contacts was trying to reach you.
This is bad behavior.
I hope they get into troubles.

Re:they become aggresive...

[istartedi]

I've been ignoring them for years. I've always suspected that when a co-worker who I haven't corresponded with in years (and wasn't really buddy-buddy, juet a co-worker) tried to get back in touch with me, they wouldn't do so by recommending me for a particular skill. I mean... really? "Hey, I was wondering what he was up to the last few years, so I decided to recommend him for one of the skills he has listed on his profile". Who thinks like that?

Re:

[JaneTheIgnorantSlut]

I get similar recommendations from time to time. Not from close friends but rather from former coworkers that I was not close to. Considering that I retired almost two years ago, they are most certainly spam.

Re:

[Zeromous]

That's not how it works. They are presented with an interface which asks about random connections:

Does JaneTheIgnorantSlut know about:

VMWare?
C/C++?
Object Oriented Programming?
Linux?

They click on all the things they consider you as "knowing" and there it is.

Re:

[sponse]

Thats true!
From time to time, I get the mail saying somebody has endorsed me for a skill.
When I ask in person to the one who endorsed me he says:
a) he didn't
or
b) he only did 'cos I did it first (but I didn't)

Re:

[zlogic]

It's possible people who are looking for a job start recommending all their contacts so at least someone will recommend them back.

Re:

[rdk571]

I find it incredibly amusing when a spelling Nazi screws up basic usage. It is "intents and purposes" not "intensive purposes."

Re:

[Neil Boekend]

Maybe they really think it is only for intensive purposes and not for low intensity purposes.

Re:

[kwark]

And this is why I reject any email linked to linkedin. It surely felt more then 3 times semi random people (with who I might have corresponded on some mailinglists) try to invite you.

Re:

[Quirkz]

I didn't even give them a try, and they're still just as obnoxious. My father in law signed up, and I got about 5 emails from them over a few months before poking them to unsubscribe. The next month another contact pointed them back at me, and I got another 3 emails before remembering to unsubscribe *again*. I've now had four or five people give me as a contact and I know I've got to go unsubscribe immediately or I'll just keep getting spammed. As a non-customer there's no way I've found to stay unsubscribe

Re:

[ruir]

Adbklock solves the problem.

That's nothing.

[newcastlejon]

I get LinkedIn spam from people I've never heard of.

Re:That's nothing.

[Anna Merikin]

Yeah, me, too. I found one "offer" from linkdin that looked like it was sent by a guy whose craigslist ad for a cheap Mercedes I had responded to; I sent him a flame email calling him out for it.

Now, I look like the a**hole....

Thanks, linkdin. NOT.

Re:

[kwark]

Mailing lists are a source in my bad experience. I also hated the people in which names these messages arrived (before blacklisting linkedin).

Re:

[TheRaven64]

I've had a load of LinkedIn spam sent to mailing lists recently. The problem with this lawsuit is that it's the wrong people - LinkedIn is sending spam, they should be prosecuted, not sued by people on whose behalf they claimed to send it.

Re:

[Anna Merikin]

I agree; that's why I posted. I berated that guy righteously, and some others, too. I called him every name in the book. If I were him (and presumably innocent) I'd want to sue someone. I'm just glad I didn't CC: my remarks to others....

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[newcastlejon]

No, I really don't have any link to the people who are supposedly sending this crap. I even get them on an address that I've never shared with another real person.

Re:

[newcastlejon]

You need an account to get these messages? It's an open-and-shut case of spam then, because I'd never heard about LinkedIn until my inbox started filling up with messages from them.

Re:

[znrt]

I get LinkedIn spam from people I've never heard of.

me too and i'm not even in there. but plenty fuckwitts who have my email are.

PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes

[Stan92057]

PCworld doesn't honor my unsubscribes as well, E-harmony is a mega spammer, Wellsfargo doesn't Honor my unsubscribes. I have tried numerous times to use the unsubscribe links, taken screen shots of the successful unsubscribes. What do I do now? reporting to spamcop is useless Oh and Comcast spectator refuses to honor my unsubscribes too. All proven with screen shots Any advice??

Re:

[Bengie]

Use an email provider that honors flagging a sender as spam.

Re:

[GNious]

Write to them, ask if there is a preferred contact at their legal department that should be referenced in a potential suit :)

Re:

[Stan92057]

So far I have sent a copy of the email to one of PCworlds email addresses [e-mail] no answers and not been removed. Guess your advice is what I should do next

Re:

[Hans Adler]

Look at my post "My experience with LinkedIn spam" for a method that worked with LinkedIn for me. I sent those emails to privacy at linkedin.com. Of course your request may be considered less explosive if it's not related to a mentally unstable person with a history of making threats. (Potential for really bad publicity.) Maybe you can make up for this by asking a targeted question that shows you mean business. E.g. with a German company I would ask for the data protection officer's direct contact address a

Re:

[BradMajors]

BTW. You can not report linkedin spam using spamcop. Spamcop will not send a complaint because linkedin's hosting service "does not want to receive any spam complaints about linkedin".

Re:

[geminidomino]

Back in the day, that sort of bullshit got your servers epoxied onto the DNSBL for a good long time, if not forever. /nostalgia

Re:

[CBravo]

It does not mean spamcop will not blacklist the IP in itself.

Only give corporations your junk mailbox

[Shompol]

Have a separate mailbox that you divulge to corporate entities without hesitation, but can still open it on per-need basis. This way all spam goes directly to recycle bin.

Re:

[Stan92057]

Ya been doing that for years that's what my gmail box is for but geezzz this is a big name so called trustworthy site. I guess no unsubscribe can be trusted until spam laws have some real teeth.

Re:

[lemur3]

PCworld doesn't honor my unsubscribes as well, ... Wellsfargo doesn't Honor my unsubscribes. I have tried numerous times to use the unsubscribe links, taken screen shots of the successful unsubscribes. What do I do now? ... Oh and Comcast spectator refuses to honor my unsubscribes too. All proven with screen shots Any advice??

The advice is, and I presume you're in America, that you should complain to the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, this is exactly what they want you to do.

from the www.consumer.ftc.gov website:

If you try to unsubscribe from an email list and your request is not honored, file a complaint with the FTC.

that line is linked to the following website where one can file your complaint: https://www.ftccomplaintassist... [ftccomplai...istant.gov]

everyone should follow through with these complaints when businesses do not comply with the law.

I love it when I can simply unsubscribe to things and it works, I do it maybe once a year when the sites I s

Re:

[Stan92057]

Just a note the FTC does have an address that we can send spam messages too,

[e-mail]

What good its doing? I guess nothing since I still get spam or maybe not enough people know that spam can be forwarded too the government. Hmm that's an Idea write a email to the FTC and ask what the assdrees actually does. I agree with everything you said btw.

My experience with LinkedIn spam

[Hans Adler]

I once got LinkedIn invitations in the name of a American who was totally unknown to me. When it finally occurred to me to search my correspondence for his name, I learned that this was a banned Wikipedia editor who had written one email to my professional email address to advertise his evidently psychosis-induced website. I had never answered.

Here is my complete correspondence with LinkedIn after I found this out.

----- My first email to LinkedIn ----- Mon, 23 May 2011 08:37:04 UTC

It is an impertinence to send "invitations" to people who are not even
using your service, based on email address books of your users. It is
almost criminal to repeat them periodically and not to include the
usual spam opt-out links with these unsolicited messages.

I keep getting such reminders "from" a person who I do not know and
who was banned from Wikipedia for stalking and making threats.

You *will* add the following email addresses to your "do not contact"
list. Your confirmation that you have done so will be the last
communication that I will receive from your servers.

[my 2 email addresses deleted]

----- My second email to LinkedIn ----- Tue, 24 May 2011 10:58:27 UTC

May I ask you to confirm that you have received the message below and
that it will be handled. I am somewhat reluctant to go public with
this incident.

[quotation of my first email deleted]

----- First email from LinkedIn to me ----- Tue, 24 May 2011 11:03:21 UTC

We’ve received your message and we’re working to get you an answer. If you have a Premium account or you’re a LinkedIn Ads customer, we strive to reply within 24 hours. For all other members, we do our best to respond within 48 hoursbut at times we do see delays. We’ll get back to you soon!

[quotation of my *second* email deleted; I never received such a confirmation for my first email, even though this one looks like an auto-response]

----- Second email from LinkedIn to me ----- Wed, 25 May 2011 15:40:33 UTC [55 hours after my first email]

Hi Hans,

Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention.

Per your request, the email addresses provided have been added to our "do not contact" list. You will no longer receive any email from LinkedIn or our members on these email addresses. If you decide at a later date that you want to set up a LinkedIn account, you will need to first contact us to have your email addresses removed from the “do not contact” list.

If you have further questions, please feel free to reply to this message.

[some first name deleted]
LinkedIn Customer Service

Re:My experience with LinkedIn spam

[Charliemopps]

LinkedIn has been my nemesis for years. 80% of my companies spam came form them and reeked havoc on the systems I maintain. I tried blocking their standard email addresses and then found that they were rotating email accounts to get around that very thing. They were acting just like any other spam troll I've dealt with. Finally I just blocked their entire domain. You can't even go to their site from inside our building anymore. Fuck em.

Re:My experience with LinkedIn spam

[Charliemopps]

btw, LinkedIn is the ONLY domain we blacklist. We don't even block porn sites. Just linkedin... that should tell you something.

Speak of the devil.

[Kaz Kylheku]

I just blocked LinkedIn today from being able to deliver SMTP to my mail server.

Some linked-in dickhead (link sausage? haha) thought it was a good idea to send an invite to a public mailing list that I run.

it seems their "spam" button does nothing

[ruir]

No matter how I flag certain messages as spam they keep appearing, and when I tried to open a ticket they played dumb. Also they open a lots of popup windows, I have to redefine my adblock rules constantly. Their prices are also outrageous, and they fully well know it, or else wouldnt show them in a shady way, payment 40 dollars/month for a year... In my privacy settings I disabled the permanent invites to others to endorse me, at least some advantage of having an account there.

LinkedIn: vicious, unrepentant, prolific spammers

[Arrogant-Bastard]

If you support LinkedIn or have an account there, then YOU are part of the problem. You're not only implicitly endorsing spam, you're generating it, supporting it, and funding it.

If you don't support LinkedIn and have blacklisted or firewalled them: good. That's the correct professional response to any abuser/attacker.

If you haven't blacklisted/firewalled them, then you'll want this:

8.22.120.0/24
69.28.147.0/24
199.101.161.0/24
199.101.162.0/24
199.101.163.0/24
216.52.242.0/24

Remember to block