How to deal with LinkedIn spam?

Discussion in 'Networking and Security' started by bashatrader, Apr 28, 2014.

  1. I get numerous emails to join various people on LinkedIn. When I try to use the unsubscribe link the LinkedIn website comes up with a message that I have to verify that I am the email owner and I have to register to do that.

    "There was an error while unsubscribing. Please verify you are the recipient of the email and try again."

    This is the most disgusting form of spam I have ever seen. This companyseems to blackmail people to register otherwise they will get the spam. Has anyone dealt with this spam before? Is there a place to report these spammers?
     
  2. Maverick74

    Maverick74

    It could be a virus. It's very easy to replicate the site and try to get you to click a link. If you are not already a member then there is no way for an existing member to contact you unless he personally knows your e-mail and invites you. For example, Linked in (with your permission) can go into your e-mail accounts and see if there are any people you know who are NOT already members and then you can send them invites to join. But that is usually done by someone who actually knows you. I have never gotten spam from LinkedIn and I'm a very active member.
     
  3. I know the person on behalf of whom the emails are send and I cannot unsubscribe because the unsubscribe link forces you to register to unsubscribe. This is horrible spam. You have not gotten any spam because you are a member. They are trying to make non member to subscribe this way.
     
  4. zdreg

    zdreg

    i always enjoy conspiracy theories, even though i am a non-believer.

    my conspiracy theory is that you are short the stock and the purpose of your post is to knock the stock down. it is down 6.5%.
    congratulations.
     
  5. davyjordi

    davyjordi

    after googling the error mentioned by the first poster within the thread and being directed to this thread on this lovely site, i felt compelled to created an account just to state that said poster is absolutely justified in complaining that linkedin is spamming in one of the worst possible ways as i receive these emails frequently from people who i distantly know or knew who ostensibly have linkedin accounts.

    i'm thoroughly annoyed as i can't seem to find a solution. should anyone have one, conspiracy theories, aside, please do provide because the emails are somehow getting past the usfca.edu spam filters frequently.
     
  6. I have gotten lots of fake emails from Linkedln that were definitely not sent by the named persons. (I contacted them by telephone directly and verified that they did not send me anything from linkln. Most were having virus problems in other applications at the time.) The fake emails began over a year ago right after linkedIn had a major hack.I sent out something to all my contacts at the time, but it appears that looking in address books for names and email pairs is related to the ones I got purportedly from linkln. In each case, the person had a different email address than the one linkln has. Now I just delete them as I see them, although I have not seen any for months.

    Being busy and knowing the person that sent them, I almost fell for them at first, until I realized that there was no way that I should get any linkln invites on one particular email address. I have multiple email addresses and it was the wrong one for linkln. Now I don't accept them without verification.

    Not to make anyone too paranoid, the suspect email was the same one I used on this site. It would make sense to me for crooked people to target those trading large amounts of capital.

    Willie "sutton is famously — but apocryphally — supposed to have answered reporter Mitch Ohnstad, who asked why he robbed banks, by saying, "because that's where the money is." The supposed quote formed the basis of Sutton's law, often taught to medical students."
     
  7. Perhaps a pleasantly worded request to the NSA to take you off of their backup services would help? LOL - Just kidding.
     
  8. davyjordi

    davyjordi


    i don't doubt that the person who is listed isn't intentionally sending the email, but rather that linkedin has asked covertly for permission to access the individual's email address book. what's particularly curious, the aforementioned aside, is that the links aren't mirrored, or rather, the links provided within the 'spam' emails when copy/pasted into the browser are linkedin web addresses -- there is no redirecting or anything of the sort.

    it's a convoluted mess, although after a bit more searching this morning there is a thread on the linkedin forums discussing this very issue. within the thread, a poster complained that linkedin closed and deleted a previous thread, although the thread extant is still available. i'm not sure of the motives other than to force an individual to sign up, giving linkedin certain information. i do know, though, that the links i'm clicking aren't malicious; i'm absolutely positive of this.
     
  9. davyjordi

    davyjordi

    LOL - exactly! the things one must do...
     
  10. If they have covertly checked out non-linkln application data, then what other data has been checked out.

    How did you verify that they are really linkedln web addresses? Did you access the DNS or use a sniffer? (http://www.coderanch.com/t/358827/Servlets/java/hiding-URL-address-fake)
     
    #10     Jun 26, 2014