Many people have received an email in recent days from a person who is on your email contact list. The email advises you that he is sending you photos which can be viewed by clicking on a link to a website called “Tagged”. When you try to retrieve the photos, the site sends a link to everyone on your contact list.
YWN has received dozens of emails from readers about this, and we have compiled a few tips for our readers:
SOME INFO ABOUT TAGGED:
Tagged is a social networking website allowing users to share information, photos, videos, messages, etc with friends. It has been around since 2004, is officially geared for high schools students, and claims to have over 70 million users.
Although they are officially a legitimate website, their approach that they use is considered by many to be spam and has had numerous consumer complaints.
Greg Tseng who is co-founder of Tagged was also co founder of Jumpstart Technologies which According to the Federal Trade Commission, was fined a $900,000 civil penalty in 2006 for violating the CAN-SPAM Act, the largest penalty at the time for illegal spam.
What CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?
YWN spoke to A.E. Friedman of Duvys Media and he had the following suggestions.
1)If you already clicked on an email you got about tagged and signed up, make sure to close your account as soon as possible. This will prevent them from sending out additional emails on your behalf.
2)Complain to Tagged.com’s ISP/hosting company, doing a quick lookup it seems they are hosted by Above. [email protected]
3)Fill out a form at the FTC. Although it is a long form you are not required to fill out all the information. https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
(Eli Gefen – YWN)
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14 Responses
I got it also, I hopw it gets taken care of.
I got the email and wanted to see my friend’s pictures. However, after the first screen it asked me for my actual email password. That got me suspicious so I cancelled the whole thing so not to provide them with that information. I’m not THAT curious about my friend’s pictures!
better to stay away from those emails!
I had that E-mail as well. I do not open any E-mails from anyone I do not know. Those go to the spam box.
I got 2 already and in each case before opening it I contacted my friend who sent it and was told they never did so I just put the email into my spam box
http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/Tagged.asp
You should also be aware of FORWARDING funny or informative e-mails that you do actually get from ppl you know on your contact list. Most of these e-mails have been sent using some sort of a tracking system. When you forward the e-mail, it automatically sends the e-mail(s) address(es) in the To:, cc:, and bcc: fields to the originator of the e-mail using this tracking system.
You ever wonder who creates these e-mails and what for? This is how they gain more and more e-mails for sending spam. If you really find something interesting and absolutely want to forward something to friends/family, I suggest you copy/paste and start a new e-mail.
I was quite surprised to see that I got one from a professor I had in college a year ago who is still in my inbox.
I didn’t bother signing up to see his pictures, (I kind of didn’t care…) good thing I didn’t!
It’s funny, I just got one today. I’m not the least bit interested in someone else’s pictures -so when I clicked on it and they asked me to sign up – I just deleted the e-mail. I don’t sign up to anything unless it was my own idea.
How do I close my Account?
You must sign in to your account in order to cancel just hit skip and pass on everything, dont give them any more info. Then *
Click the Account link in the top right navigation bar
*
Scroll to the “Cancel Account” section bottom of the page and click the “You may cancel your Tagged account at any time” link
Cancel Account
*
Select “Yes, I want to cancel my account and miss out on all the fun on Tagged”
*
Click the “Submit” button
*
Enter your password to confirm your choice
Note: When you cancel your account, you permanently lose your entire profile, your photos, your tags and all your friends on Tagged. Your login and password will no longer work on the site. If you change your mind, you may re-register with the same email account, but you will have to create your profile from scratch.
#7, elisha y – there is no such tracking program in this universe! Where on earth did you get this idea from?
I got this email too and i was a little suspicious but i signed up and now i do not know how to close my account. If anyone knows how to please let me know as soon as possible. thanks!
#12 – check things out before you jump the gun. I have a freind who has this tracking system. but he uses it for a non profit organization that sends informative information and this is how he expands his e-mail list. do some research and you’ll be surprised. There are plenty of companies offering this tracking software. It’s actually quite genius to see it in action – live and up-to-date. For example: reader #1 forwards it to 20 ppl (who’s addresses are revealed) and they forward and so on. It also stamps the date and time when the e-mail was opened, shows how long the e-mail was open and read, was the e-mail deleted, what state/country it was opened in, did they click the link or the attachment, what operating software it was opened on…. etc. it gets very detailed – you will be surprised how much these spam companies know about you. You ever wonder why at the bottom of these e-mails it stresses to forward it to 10 ppl and if you don’t, bla bla bla will happen. Yes friends – it surely does exists.