Anyone else the recipient of a spam mail sent out on behalf of Aer Lingus this evening?
I received one and when I went to reply (to complain) the from address ([email protected]) was, of course, invalid. There was an unsubscribe link in the mail but no way I was clicking that!
Now, I’m pretty rabid about spam - I never opt-in to any mailing options when I’m buying something and always look for an opt-out to check. Aer Lingus, being an Irish company is bound by the current law on spam in this country, which says you can only send a marketing email to someone who has opted to be sent spam. Not me.
I reported it to SpamCop.
I forwarded a copy to the offices of the Data Protection Commissioner.
I sent a complaint to the only email address I could find on the Aer Lingus website ([email protected]).
A whois lookup on the domain name 12hs.com (the originating email address domain) yields the following info:
Registrant:
Twelve Horses
10315 Professional Circle
Suite #100
Reno, NV 89521
us
Administrative Contact:
Master, Host [email protected]
10315 Professional Circle
Suite #100
Reno, NV 89521
us
+1.7753323000 Fax: +1.7753323007
Technical Contact:
Master, Tech [email protected]
10315 Professional Cir, Ste 100
Reno, NV 89521
us
+1.7753323000 Fax: +1.7753323007
Registration Service Provider:
Twelve Horses, [email protected]
775-332-3000
775-332-3007 (fax)
http://www.twelvehorses.com
The twelvehorses.com website says they are “a leading provider of email and web-based marketing and business automation solutions” - what it doesn’t say is where they buy their email databases.
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I’m sure I saw a mail from this crowd before in regards to Aer Lingus. Goog luck with the Data Protection crowd. I have a complaint in against an Irish Spammer. Have been told it could take 6 months before they finish their investigation.
Hi Damien,
on the Aer Lingus website - on the Booking Information (You have 7 minutes to complete this page) page - there is a note at the bottom of the page which says “If you would rather not receive this information then please tick this box.”
That’s opt out - I pretty sure Spam in Ireland can only be sent to consumers if they opt in.
Data commissioner, here I come…
UPDATE:
I spoke to the Offices of the Data Commissioner and they informed me that because I had bought a ticket from Aer Lingus, I could be considered a customer of theirs. Consequently, they can send me spam once, until I tell them I don’t want to receive it.
So, while Aer Lingus have not technically breached the law in this case, they are still, in my opinion, sending spam.
If Aer Lingus want an untarnished image with respect to direct mail marketing, they should change the checkbox to “Check this box if you want to receive mail from…” Also, in any mails they send, they should include the details of when the recipient signed up, plus an opt out link.
This way, they ensure that only people who want to receive their mails, receive them and if anyone forgets signing up, they can see when they did and have an easy out if they change their minds.
I spotted one of these emails in my dad’s inbox, I’m sort of relieved it’s spam and not a phishing scam involving airline tickets instead of banks, which is what I assumed at first…
“There was an unsubscribe link in the mail but no way I was clicking that!”
This would have solved your problem in the first place no??
I received two emails from “Aerlingus” last week. They look like phishing to me as the sender is aerlingus.chtah.com.
I would not trust emails coming from chtah.com to be Aerlingus.
I would never click on a link or load any image in emails from untrusted sites as that could let them know your email address really exists and that you read it. Is a call for more spam.
I would like to know how they got my email address in first place to know I’m subscribed to Aerlingus. Is that a leak of information from Aerlingus site?
Maybe aerlingus.chtah.com is a trusted site …. don’t think so.
Like you I looked everywhere in their website for an email address of say customer services to complain that a price quoted on their website of £4 to fly from London to Cork and £7 from Cork to London ends up costing £74.36 when they include their taxes and Handling Fee of £8. How can there be a handling fee when everything is automatic including printing out your ticket on your own printer. Like you the only email address on their site is for group bookings.
It just makes me so mad. Why don’t they admit all these hidden costs instead of luring and fooling people with so called cheap flights.
Regards
Frank