I like most of you receive several dozen SPAM emails daily. I thought I would take a few minutes to shame a company and their employee publicly in this blog post. If either of them have an issue with that the simple solution would be to stop sending SPAM. Here’s my critique of both the spam and the company that sent them.
I’ve included the headers but have replaced my actual email address with “Me@MyDomain.com” from each of these emails. It’s not at all hard to find my email address but I’d rather minimize the amount of spam that ends up in my inbox.
Exibit #1: LiquidWeb Spam #1 from Patrick K. Henderson
This was the first email from Patrick K. Henderson who’s a “Senior Business Development Executive” over at LiquidWeb. Apparently a “Senior Business Development Executive”s job at LiquidWeb is to send out lots of SPAM in the hopes of attracting new customers. Notice how he mentions my credentials but makes no mention of where he’s seen my credentials or what exactly about them warranted this unsolicited email. He was however kind enough to enclose a personalized tracking link with a $75 coupon for their service. $75 won’t go far though as their services seem to be several times more expensive than their non SPAM sending competitors.
Delivered-To: Me@MyDomain.com Received: by 10.27.128.193 with SMTP id b184csp1633315wld; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:45:35 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.42.88.212 with SMTP id d20mr2074375icm.32.1418910335253; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:45:35 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: <phenderson@liquidweb.com> Received: from mx01.liquidweb.com (mx01.liquidweb.com. [69.167.129.136]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id t19si231615igr.12.2014.12.18.05.45.34 for <me@mydomain.com> (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Thu, 18 Dec 2014 05:45:34 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of phenderson@liquidweb.com designates 69.167.129.136 as permitted sender) client-ip=69.167.129.136; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of phenderson@liquidweb.com designates 69.167.129.136 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=phenderson@liquidweb.com Received: from zimbra.liquidweb.com ([67.227.128.88]:59949) by mx01.liquidweb.com with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from <phenderson@liquidweb.com>) id 1Y1bOX-0008Jm-Lg; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 08:45:33 -0500 Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 08:45:33 -0500 (EST) From: Patrick Henderson <phenderson@liquidweb.com> To: Me@MyDomain.com Message-ID: <416432730.624972.1418910333597.JavaMail.zimbra@liquidweb.com> Subject: Liquid Web - Gift Certificate MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_624971_400096354.1418910333596" X-Originating-IP: [10.30.6.5] X-Mailer: Zimbra 8.5.1_GA_3056 (ZimbraWebClient - GC39 (Win)/8.5.1_GA_3056) Thread-Topic: Liquid Web - Gift Certificate Thread-Index: MXQDxaJ2eD2sEDArZiQYmmSeVTFByA== ------=_Part_624971_400096354.1418910333596 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello Ben, Happy Holidays from Liquid Web! Please take a spin on our cloud platform, STORM. Based on your credentials you'd make an excellent customer or employee. Let me know if you sign up today. Thanks. https://www.liquidweb.com/campaign/V__Am379v35JU_SHUAchE8ZnR7s --------------------------------- Patrick K. Henderson Senior Business Development Executive phenderson@liquidweb.com Twitter: @Liquidweb Liquid Web, Inc. www.LiquidWeb.com support@liquidweb.com 800-580-4985 ext. 2195 TollFree 517-322-0434 ext. 2195 Int. 517-322-0493 Fax
Exibit #2 : LiquidWeb SPAM #2 through SalesFoce.com
This was the second email that I received from LiquidWeb. For the sake of brevity I’m only including the printable version. This second email seems to be an automated response and by salesforce.com. It was probably triggered by Patrick, one of his lackeys or an automated spam script importing my contact information into salesforce.com
Delivered-To: Me@MyDomain.com Received: by 10.27.128.193 with SMTP id b184csp1665070wld; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:31:04 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.229.135.202 with SMTP id o10mr4665119qct.9.1418916664318; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:31:04 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: <sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com> Received: from smtp14-asg.mta.salesforce.com (smtp14-asg.mta.salesforce.com. [204.14.232.77]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id n4si8576270qci.46.2014.12.18.07.31.03 for <me@mydomain.com> (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:31:04 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com designates 204.14.232.77 as permitted sender) client-ip=204.14.232.77; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com designates 204.14.232.77 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com Return-Path: <sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com> X-SFDC-Interface: internal Received: from [10.232.9.131] ([10.232.9.131:63041] helo=ops-mta1-2-chi.ops.sfdc.net) by mx2-asg.mta.salesforce.com (envelope-from <sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com>) (ecelerity 2.2.2.45 r()) with ESMTP id 28/42-15561-733F2945; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:31:03 +0000 Received: from [10.234.64.83] ([10.234.64.83:48733] helo=na13-app1-12-chi.ops.sfdc.net) by mx3-chi.mta.salesforce.com (envelope-from <sales=liquidweb.com__0-2q6rd9cvgkaoxd@qvu7ml2g4yz5ly.3-pmdyeai.na13.bnc.salesforce.com>) (ecelerity 2.2.2.45 r()) with ESMTPS (cipher=DES-CBC3-SHA) id EC/DF-12411-733F2945; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:31:03 +0000 Received: from [10.234.64.50] by na13.salesforce.com via HTTP; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:31:03 -0800 Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:31:03 +0000 (GMT) From: Liquid Web Sales <sales@liquidweb.com> Sender: noreply@salesforce.com To: "Me@MyDomain.com" <me@mydomain.com> Message-ID: <2Jc6g000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000NGSB3R00HGNSwf6HQQyBoFXgOouN7w@sfdc.net> Subject: Thank you for contacting Liquid Web! MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_12143_1411681069.1418916663366" X-SFDC-LK: 00D30000000pmDy X-SFDC-User: 00530000004eK6O X-Sender: postmaster@salesforce.com X-mail_abuse_inquiries: http://www.salesforce.com/company/abuse.jsp X-SFDC-TLS-NoRelay: 1 X-SFDC-EmailCategory: workflowActionAlert X-SFDC-EntityId: 01Wa0000000U7YE X-SFDC-Binding: 1WrIRBV94myi25uB ------=_Part_12143_1411681069.1418916663366 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello! Thank you for chatting with us today! It is our sincere hope that by discussing your options, we were able to pro= vide useful and pertinent information that will assist you throughout your = search for the perfect hosting provider. From what we have discussed, we fe= el that Liquid Web will be a great fit for you and cannot wait to take this= potential partnership to the next level with our premium hosting, customer= service, and Heroic Support. Please feel free to contact us if you require further assistance and/or hav= e any additional questions regarding our services. We are available 24/7/36= 5 via phone, chat, or e-mail using the contact information below. Thank you very much for your time, and have a great day! Liquid Web Sales sales@liquidweb.com 800-580-4985 1-517-322-0434 (international) P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the Liquid Web Shop, where you can get FRE= E gifts. Sign up at http://shop.liquidweb.com. =20 Copyright =A9 2013 Liquid Web, Inc. 4210 S. Creyts Rd. Lansing, MI 48917
In this second email they are thanking me for chatting with them however I’ve I’ve never spoken, chatted or emailed with anyone at LiquidWeb. I was busy working on something else and hadn’t noticed either of these messages for a couple of hours. Did they want me to review my product? Maybe they wanted to hire me but for what position? The first email was vague but mentioned my credentials. I was intrigued enough to take a look at what it is they’re selling and to view their companies profile over at GlassDoor.com. I’ll summarize what I’ve found but feel free to do your own research. Apparently they’re a poorly run overpriced hosting company located in the dying rust belt town of Lansing Michigan. I can’t imagine why anyone would choose them over a lower cost alternative with a better reputation such as Linode or DigitalOcean managed by CloudWays. Definitely not a place I would want to work.
Their target demographic seems to be the technologically illiterate middle management of the corporate world. You can’t really hold that against them though as it’s the same profitable uninformed demographic that at least 80% of tech companies are targeting with their marketing.
Exibit #3: My reply
The emails I’ve received from LiquidWeb have been vague and impersonal enough that I was fairly certain that this was just a slightly targeted SPAM. I decided to reply and confront Patrick at LiquidWeb regarding the past two emails.
MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.27.87.169 with HTTP; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:02:44 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <416432730.624972.1418910333597.JavaMail.zimbra@liquidweb.com> References: <416432730.624972.1418910333597.JavaMail.zimbra@liquidweb.com> Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:02:44 +0300 Delivered-To: Me@MyDomain.com Message-ID: <ca+zhljsiywqkjs9d4gggdpfzpgfigsb4ms2-o7emjefc9eojiw@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: Liquid Web - Gift Certificate From: Benjamin Knigge <me@mydomain.com> To: Patrick Henderson <phenderson@liquidweb.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 What list did you pull my email off of? I've never contacted your company before and now I get two emails from your company within 20 minutes of each other. Your service seems fairly expensive for what you're offering when compared to Linode, Digital Ocean or Vultr.
Exibit #4: The Denial
Delivered-To: Me@MyDomain.com Received: by 10.27.128.193 with SMTP id b184csp1693618wld; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:08:49 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.42.161.7 with SMTP id r7mr2741984icx.75.1418922528678; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:08:48 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: <phenderson@liquidweb.com> Received: from mx01.liquidweb.com (mx01.liquidweb.com. [69.167.129.136]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id ba7si6128013icb.70.2014.12.18.09.08.48 for <me@mydomain.com> (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:08:48 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of phenderson@liquidweb.com designates 69.167.129.136 as permitted sender) client-ip=69.167.129.136; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of phenderson@liquidweb.com designates 69.167.129.136 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=phenderson@liquidweb.com Received: from zimbra.liquidweb.com ([67.227.128.88]:51239) by mx01.liquidweb.com with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from <phenderson@liquidweb.com>) id 1Y1eZD-0000FU-PM for Me@MyDomain.com; Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:08:47 -0500 Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:08:47 -0500 (EST) From: Patrick Henderson <phenderson@liquidweb.com> To: ben <me@mydomain.com> Message-ID: <1893151440.639959.1418922527626.JavaMail.zimbra@liquidweb.com> In-Reply-To: <ca+zhljsiywqkjs9d4gggdpfzpgfigsb4ms2-o7emjefc9eojiw@mail.gmail.com> References: <416432730.624972.1418910333597.JavaMail.zimbra@liquidweb.com> <ca+zhljsiywqkjs9d4gggdpfzpgfigsb4ms2-o7emjefc9eojiw@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: Liquid Web - Gift Certificate MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_639958_1526176102.1418922527625" X-Originating-IP: [10.30.6.5] X-Mailer: Zimbra 8.5.1_GA_3056 (ZimbraWebClient - GC39 (Win)/8.5.1_GA_3056) Thread-Topic: Liquid Web - Gift Certificate Thread-Index: FK1WXKLViZKVSI49lUJoMlnST/DLkA== ------=_Part_639958_1526176102.1418922527625 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello Ben, I ran across your website online. You were not a list, but your background seemed interesting; you would be an excellent candidate for either being a customer or employee. Have you heard of Liquid Web? We have never competed in the small budget hosting space, because many of our customers are very serious about their web hosting and they value our support, HEROIC SUPPORT (R). You are not obligated to sign up for FREE HOSTING, but Our cloud platform, STORM, has 3 unique zones here in Michigan and a zone out in Arizona. We'll be opening a zone and hosting in Europe in Q1:2015. STORM offers: geographic diversity high vertical performance cloud servers resizing, cloning, image management, and rapid deployments (linux/windows) load balancing, ip pools, firewalls, private networks, vpn, etc. block storage object-storage api access and support --------------------------------- Patrick K. Henderson Senior Business Development Executive phenderson@liquidweb.com Twitter: @Liquidweb Liquid Web, Inc. www.LiquidWeb.com support@liquidweb.com 800-580-4985 ext. 2195 TollFree 517-322-0434 ext. 2195 Int. 517-322-0493 Fax -------------------------------
Caught in a lie
Before trying to sell me his overpriced products again Patrick takes a moment to claim that the reason he’s contacting me is because he came across my website. For some odd reason he fails to mention the name of the website, how he came across it or why he thought I would be interested in they products that he’s trying to sell. I own two websites. This one and Heptec.com which is an as of yet unfinished single page app that I plan on using to host my resume. Neither of my sites provide my email address. I’m just guessing here but LiquidWeb most likely bought my email address from someone or pulled it out of the my domain registry records. I think the mention of a possible employment opportunity is deliberately designed to lessen the odds of the email being rightfully called out and flagged as the SPAM it is.
If you’ve received a similar piece of SPAM from LiquidWeb please leave me a comment and let me know. It’s my hope that by posting this I will be able to shame the SPAM sending companies into cleaning up their act.
If Patrick K. Henderson or anyone else from LiquidWeb cares to respond to this post I will be sure to post that correspondence in an update here as well.
sulfen says
I’ve never done business with LiquidWeb but it does sound fishy that they would be doing this given that they have a reputation to maintain.
Benjamin Knigge says
Their reputation isn’t all that great to begin with. I never even noticed that they existed prior to this and I have no record of ever communicating with them. I searched my email going back to 2007 which is when I moved my email to google apps. I’m just guessing at this but I think they probably pulled my email address out of my domain registration records. If the sleazy sales guy hadn’t been so vague and had contacted me via the contact form on this blog I wouldn’t have called them out for the SPAM. I’m sure that if LiquidWeb ever comments on this they will say something to that effect of “this was a rouge employee out to boost his sales numbers and does not reflect company policy”. If that’s the case they should do a better job of training and manage their employees.
Angel Peifer says
I just received an email citing an my “email request for support”and a ticket # and asking me to repaond with thenticket # so they can match uo my accout. I’ve NEVER done business woth them somhave NOT requested support. This is shameful SPAMMING.