I need your help

Doing what I can to trim the spam.

Forgive me, I posted this as a poem because most of us are poets, and I needed to reach as many members as I could.

 

I know I’m a pain in the a*s. But I have a thing about both Writers Café and Spammers. I like the Café and hate spammers, with good reason.

 

Most members aren’t aware of it, but this is one of the oldest writers sites on the Internet. When it started, we had a lively and often used forum, where we talked of writing issues and whatever else we cared to.

 

But then, the spammers decended, and flooded the forums with page after page of spam, every day, and all day, which drove away members, and changed the upbeat feeling of the site.  They literally made it impossible to use the forums, so they were shut down, making this to a posting site, only. I hated that. But worse, at that point, the site owner abandoned us. GoDaddy, the host, keeps it going for the money they make on the paid ads, but they do no moderating, and ignore us when we flag a spammer.

 

The worst part is that the spam doesn't sell anything. Most points to a business in a city, or area, where few members live, or for a service that only certain industries would find of interest. So, those people are scamming the companies they spam for.

For example, a small company that sells sleep apnea products a city in New Jersey USA isn’t seeking customers in Australia, India, or even another state in their own country. Yet the spam clutters our site. But it will not, and can not, attract a measurable number of customers.

 

Why do they do it, then? Because it’s a scam. The scammers brag to the company contracting their service that their ad was posted on many websites, but never tell the one paying for it that those sites aren't in their country. So these b******s are invading OUR space AND lying to the one they charge for doing it. See why I hate them so much?

 

That’s why, a few weeks ago, I took on a project, where I notify the people being spammed for, that they'e being cheated. And it worked. Yes, we still have spammers, but the number of spams has been dramatically reduced, and the character of the spamming, and the spammer, has changed.

 

For example, one fool left out the link to the company website (really dumb) and included only a phone number, hoping that would keep me from reporting him to the company he’s scamming. But he was dumb enough not to realize that I would use the phone number to locate the company website. Today, one of the fools spamming included the company’s email address, which the site filters out. And he hadn’t the sense to check. So, we’re not dealing with genius--or even competent writers.

 

But now, I really, really need your help. The little guys? Them, I can embarrass, and contact the companies being scammed for. But today, one of the sites that used to bombard us pages worth of with “Buy my report,” crap, but which left for a time because of my contacting them, is back: Emergen Research.

 

So, what I need from the members is a bit of support.

 

 I will email the company, of course. But before they pay attention, this time, there must be more that one complaint, from the same person. So please, drop them a line. It will take only a few seconds of your time, but will let them know they’re not just spamming a site, they’re spamming a community.

 

All it takes is a quick cut and paste:

 

Their email address is: sales(@)emergenresearch.com

 

Paste that in as an email address, then remove both parenthesis marks. (this site hides email addresses if we don’t disguise the @ mark.)

 

The subject is: Stop Spamming Writers Café!

 

In the body of the letter, paste, or write, something like:

- - - - - - -

Please stop spamming our writing site. We’re not interested in your reports, and your pretend stories are annoying.

- - - - -

Add any personal touches you care to. But PLEASE, drop them a line. And if you feel as strongly as I do, review them on a site like Sitejabber, or their facebook page. A company with flawed ethics deserves a bad review, because such a company won’t be treating their clients any better than they treat us.

 

And finally: If you are kind enough to goose them with an email, let me know here with a simple: “Done.”

**************************

What I sent:

This has to stop. You’re spamming Writers Café again. It's one of the oldest writing sites on the Internet, and, not an appropriate site for such spam

 Your agent is cluttering the area where writers post their work for review, and labeling their spam as “stories.” That’s not only unethical, it’s a waste of your time and money, because the writers on that site are NOT seeking information on things like the "Electrochemical Glass Market." So whoever is doing that spamming for you is charging you, but giving you nothing-of-value in return.  So, you’re not only getting nothing for your money, you’re keeping a scammer in business.

 So please, tell them to stop. You’ll save the money they charge for spamming, and our community of writers becomes just a bit more fun to use.

***Update***

Thir address rejected my email, so apparently, they have me blocked. That means its up to you guys.

There is an alternate, though. On their site: https://www.emergenresearch.com/contact-us

 they have a window for a message to them, so, use both the email and that box.

 

Reviews

[hydra head]

you know, i came here to mock, prode and just you know, spam, i feel like its my fault, somewhat that this happened, i want to say i dont care, all the profiles ive had here say i dont, but 4 years is a long time to be gone, i had something to do with it, so i guess i can have something to do with bringing it back

[hydra head]

wait, nevermind, i thought i felt a spark of redemption, no its just heartburn after reading bullread morewait, nevermind, i thought i felt a spark of redemption, no its just heartburn after reading bull

[Ken e Bujold]

I can sympathize Spam, but it's an unwinnable battle. Take it from a very old former professional marketer, advertising is the world's 2nd oldest w***e. No matter what you do, she'll still be out there on the corner, every corner hawking her wares. My way of dealing with it is simply to treat it like my morning sh't, something you gotta do to make the rest of the day feel lighter

[Spamalott]

Except that I've been able to cut the amount of spam from 4 pages or more per day to far less than one. And I've put more than a few of the spammers out to work. The quality of the spam's writing has dropped dramatically.

The problem isn't the spammers, it's that the site if currently unmoderated, so there's no one giving them the boot.

This is literally one the oldest still-functioning writing venue on the Internet. It was institute when MySpace was the place to go online.

[hydra head]

old and dated, Outdated some would say?