Anyone with an email account has received spam at one point or another; whether it be from Nigerian Princes in need of economic assistance or an add trying to sell you medication. Generally spam is easy to identify, but occasionally an email will filter through that might convince you it’s legitimate. However, you should be wary of any unsolicited emails in your inbox.
Awhile ago I received an email from Mike Lewis:
“I can put your site at the top of a search engines listings. If this is something you might be interested in, send me a reply with the web addresses you want to promote and the best way to contact you with some options.
Sincerely,
Mike Lewis”
The email address was to mike@epicpositioning.com
It was pretty obvious it was spam:
- It came to an email address I don’t give out but is listed on the web.
- He’s trying to sell SEO (Search Engine Optimization) work to a company that does SEO.
- There are grammar errors, which can indicate a non-native English speaking source, though I’ve seen a lot worse than this.
- Finally, I Googled the text of the email and I found other websites warning about epicpostioning.com/standoutplacement.com, Lori Reynolds and Mike Lewis.
Currently epicpositioning.com and standoutplacement.com are no longer linking to the website that promised 1st place ranking on Google. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what the scam is or was, because I didn’t go through their website placement review.
It’s becoming common to find spam emails advertising seemingly legitimate services. One of my coworkers noted that some clients receive spam email warnings about domain expirations. She said the spammers, “tell them their domain is expiring and they need to renew and then POOF! Their domain has been swiped and their hosting is somewhere else!”
Let’s say some email snuck past your spam filter and landed in your inbox. If you’re not quite sure if it’s spam or not, use the following checks when sorting through your email.
How do I know this is spam?
- You’ve never heard of the sender or his company.
- You’ve never given your email to this person or company.
- The email contains a sales pitch.
- The email is riddled with grammatical errors or misspelling.
- Google the text of the email, the sender’s name, the company name, or the company website. People who receive spam get annoyed about it and write about their experience on the web, so you can often find out if someone has received an email identical to yours.
To be on the safe side, just avoid any sales pitches that come through your email unless it is from a vendor you know and trust.
Learn more about what search engine optimization is and how it may help your website.