If you have an email sign up form on your web site to gather subscriber information, it's a good idea to monitor the database to weed out any impostors. Recently, I was reviewing information for an upcoming client meeting and noticed someone in their database had signed up as the first and last name of 'Test Record'.
Normally I would have ignored it but noticed that the ending to the email address was the name of a consulting company not affiliated with the client. In reporting this to my client, we found out that the company in question had been soliciting them for business in the past. Essentially what they were attempting to do was monitor my client's email campaigns and gain further information about them. In no way were they the intended target audience.
It's a good idea to browse through your subscriber database periodically to ensure 'seeded addresses' (that's the term sometimes used to define fake email addresses) are not cluttering up your database.
Another item to be cautious about is protecting your own personal data. An article in the Columbus Dispatch on January 17th detailed information about 'phishing'. Phishing is the act of attempting to trick people into giving up personal information through email messages that look like they are coming from legitimate sources like banks and credit card companies. Don't fall victim to it. Call your bank or credit card company to verify whether they needed to contact you.
Deceptive con artists are constantly trying to trick people into divulging personal data so that they can use the information to open up other accounts. Worse yet, they could try to gain access to your money or credit lines.
Normally I would have ignored it but noticed that the ending to the email address was the name of a consulting company not affiliated with the client. In reporting this to my client, we found out that the company in question had been soliciting them for business in the past. Essentially what they were attempting to do was monitor my client's email campaigns and gain further information about them. In no way were they the intended target audience.
It's a good idea to browse through your subscriber database periodically to ensure 'seeded addresses' (that's the term sometimes used to define fake email addresses) are not cluttering up your database.
Another item to be cautious about is protecting your own personal data. An article in the Columbus Dispatch on January 17th detailed information about 'phishing'. Phishing is the act of attempting to trick people into giving up personal information through email messages that look like they are coming from legitimate sources like banks and credit card companies. Don't fall victim to it. Call your bank or credit card company to verify whether they needed to contact you.
Deceptive con artists are constantly trying to trick people into divulging personal data so that they can use the information to open up other accounts. Worse yet, they could try to gain access to your money or credit lines.
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