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LinkedIn Spam Lawsuit Can Continue

Posted by timothy on from the unrepentant-spammers dept.

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."

50 comments

  1. they become aggresive... by sponse · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...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.

    1. Re:they become aggresive... by istartedi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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?

      --
      For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    2. Re:they become aggresive... by JaneTheIgnorantSlut · · Score: 2

      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.

    3. Re:they become aggresive... by sponse · · Score: 1

      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)

    4. Re:they become aggresive... by kwark · · Score: 2

      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.

    5. Re:they become aggresive... by Zeromous · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      ---Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A START
    6. Re:they become aggresive... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There doesn't seem to be a real way to unsubscribe either, so you will get those emails until you either block them or change addresses. Worst mistake I ever made was giving LinkedIn a try.

    7. Re:they become aggresive... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I admit, I've been known to kill time by completing page after page of this thing (last time I did it - you got four people per page view) and insisting that everyone on the page knew everything about whatever it is LinkedIn was asking.

    8. Re:they become aggresive... by ruir · · Score: 1

      Adbklock solves the problem.

    9. Re:they become aggresive... by zlogic · · Score: 1

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

    10. Re:they become aggresive... by rdk571 · · Score: 1

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

    11. Re:they become aggresive... by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      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 unsubscribed for good. I've wondered if, were I to actually create an account, I could then get them to stop emailing me entirely, but I don't want to reward their bad behavior like that.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    12. Re:they become aggresive... by Neil+Boekend · · Score: 1

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

      --
      Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
  2. That's nothing. by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

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

    --
    If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    1. Re:That's nothing. by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:That's nothing. by CRCulver · · Score: 2

      You likely have some relationship to them, you've simply forgotten. One name that I often see on LinkedIn spam invitations puzzled me, but eventually I ascertained that years before, while travelling in another part of the world, I contacted his dentist office to inquire about prices. Never met him, never even had e-mail contact with him again, but my e-mail persisted on his end long enough to get vacuumed up by LinkedIn.

    3. Re:That's nothing. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get LinkedIn spam and I don't have an account there.

    4. Re:That's nothing. by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    5. Re:That's nothing. by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    6. Re:That's nothing. by kwark · · Score: 1

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

    7. Re:That's nothing. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    8. Re:That's nothing. by znrt · · Score: 1

      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.

    9. Re:That's nothing. by Anna+Merikin · · Score: 1

      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....

  3. Re:The beta by antdude · · Score: 0

    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.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  4. PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Stan92057 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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??

    --
    Jack of all trades,master of none
    1. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Bengie · · Score: 1

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

    2. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by GNious · · Score: 1

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

    3. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Hans+Adler · · Score: 1

      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 and a company address suitable for a summons.

      I have read that in some companies directly mailing someone high up in the hierarchy also works wonders. I guess they don't like losing plausible deniability concerning knowledge of what their underlings are up to.

    4. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by BradMajors · · Score: 1

      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".

    5. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      So far I have sent a copy of the email to one of PCworlds email addresses customerservice@techhive.com no answers and not been removed. Guess your advice is what I should do next

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    6. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by geminidomino · · Score: 1

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

    7. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by lemur3 · · Score: 1

      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...

      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 sign up to end up cluttering things and 9 times out of 10, it does its job.. there is not a way to reward those who do it right (save emailing them), but we can get the word to those responsible for monitoring this that some are doing it wrong.

    8. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by CBravo · · Score: 1

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

      --
      nosig today
    9. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

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

      Spam@uce.gov

      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.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    10. Re:PCworld doesn't honor unsubscribes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Network solutions is a big offender. They spam the hell out of me even after moving my domains away.
      Unsubscribe form does exactly nothing.

  5. My experience with LinkedIn spam by Hans+Adler · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

    1. Re:My experience with LinkedIn spam by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:My experience with LinkedIn spam by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Informative

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

  6. Only give corporations your junk mailbox by Shompol · · Score: 1

    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.

    1. Re:Only give corporations your junk mailbox by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
  7. Speak of the devil. by Kaz+Kylheku · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.

  8. it seems their "spam" button does nothing by ruir · · Score: 2

    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.

  9. LinkedIn: vicious, unrepentant, prolific spammers by Arrogant-Bastard · · Score: 1

    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 all IP traffic bidirectionally so that LinkedIn can't reach your network and so that anyone on your network can't reach them. This is especially important if you run mailing lists, since LinkedIn will spam those too. I also recommend checking to see any of the spammers who work for LinkedIn have managed to get on your mailing lists: if so, unsubscribe and ban them.

  10. You know guys it's pretty obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That you represent SoylentNews.Org in some capacity I suspect & that you're "trawling for users" here to leave & go there imo @ least... I've seen the technique used before, so I think I am dead-on correct here (this includes the "F Beta" + "funny joke" type offtopic forums sliding technique "First Post" posts too, which I even point out a way to get to classic easily everytime regardless of redirects for using hosts).

    In any event, me being right or wrong - Good luck!

    Maybe it'll work out for you but I think you're going to have an uphill battle. Give it time though, & do NOT give up!

    I say that, regarding "uphill battle" since this place is so "established" & what-have-you, over a LONG period with many members (lol, 1/2 of which I think are sockpuppets really though).

    Still - I've been meaning to check the place out @ some point myself (on the suggestion of Hairyfeet to me by email actually), & I've seen the frontpage there - it looks JUST like classic + yes, I read it uses the sourcecode for this site as well.

    However: /. serves a purpose for me (since it's largely travelled, in the "top 20" lists & what-not), which admittedly on my part, is MUCH like what I suspect you're up to above (& it has its "ups-N-downs" sides for me personally)

    * Still, today is not that day, BUT that day *may* be coming in the future!

    APK

    P.S.=> Good luck - I get "trolled" a LOT here (which I think you all know) & it's actually helping me though (when they go offtopic + use illogical ad hominem attacks vs. using facts on the topic @ hand) - that gets old though, so perhaps, it's time for something new! Maybe my New Year's Resolution will be that (preparing for the inevitable off-topic trollers here, lol!)... see ya & stay cool!

    ... apk

  11. Addendum: What I would like to see there? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's DIFFERENT than /., & would be EASY to implement? The ability to KNOW who downmodded you - simply the right to face a detractor/naysayer that doesn't use facts and "hit & run" modbumbs (as gmhowell here calls it).

    You do that? You've got me @ least (lol, IF you want me & very probably others as well in a heartbeat - since I am farily certain NOBODY likes it done to them, in unjustifiable downmods + other rephensible things because of it...)

    APK

    P.S.=> That is the SINGLE MOST annoying thing about this site - since it breeds an atmosphere of deceit and yes, face it, abuse (via sockpuppetry etc, & we all KNOW it goes on... heck - I've caught a few here doing it over time now (wow, first time I ever thought of it... I've been coming here for a decade on the New Year 2015 in fact!)...

    ... apk

  12. LinkedIn and Pinterest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get constant emails from both of these companies. The traditional methods I've used in the past to stop unwanted contact from other organizations have not worked. These two companies represent the worst of the new internet.

  13. Only give corporations your junk mailbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This doesn't work anymore. Companies like LinkedIn are wise to this practice. They're using current users' address book and past correspondence to find contacts. That means if you ever emailed your mother, your boss, or a random guy online, and they join LinkedIn, your real email address is now in their database.

  14. Ok: I tried Soylent News & posted there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1 thing I *REALLY* like is that while monitoring the connection, you guys don't have a 'zillion things' attaching to me (like /. does ordinarily, & that I use a firewall filter to remove as well as custom hosts files in combination with it (doubtless trackers)).

    APK

    P.S.=> I just had to let you know that was something nice to see, since that means connections there ARE faster... apk