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I have never liked Friendster very much. I don’t know why. Something about the design of the site, the way it works… being pressured to write nice things about people ( 🙂 )…
About a week ago, I got an e-mail from a friend who is already linked to my profile in Friendster. It was a “reminder” of his inviting me to join. Huh. I ignored it, of course.
So half an hour ago, Ken here at work asked me about Friendster and if he should join. He was asking because it seems I had sent an e-mail asking him to join. I never had, of course. Then I read an e-mail sent to me from someone else, saying he didn’t remember the first invite, but had gone ahead and joined thanks to this “reminder.”
The e-mails legitimately take people to Friendster to sign up. Or so I have been able to determine without creating a whole new account.
How did these e-mails get sent? Most importantly, how did my friends’ e-mail addresses get harvested?
I have to blame my PC. I only ever go to Friendster on my PC at work, since that’s the e-mail it uses to helpfully remind me that I haven’t visited in months. I have to suppose some kind of e-mail from them or appearing to be from them installed something on my PC that was able to cull my addresses and use that to send out the spam.
I sent them a nasty note asking what the hell was going on.
I hate Friendster. You can tell because I’m not even putting a hyperlink to them in this rant.
thatmattdude Expounded Thusly:
grrr
G-Man Expounded Thusly:
Dude…the same thing happened to me last week on my mac at home. I got an email from a friend inviting me to sign up to Friendster too. She initially invited me a year or so ago and I just forgot about it. On Sunday, I thought she was just trying to get me to do it again. I filled out a profile, uploaded some pix and artwork, and then linked to her profile…which hadn’t been touched in MONTHS!!
WTF?
I’ve heard of guerilla marketing, but this is ridiculous!
Steve Expounded Thusly:
I have to wonder if it’s truly Friendster’s fault. I doubt it. But if someone really wrote a hack to get into someone’s PC, nab addresses, log into Friendster and create not just invites, but reminder invites, I have to wonder why. It could just be a hack that someone created to see if it could be done. There seems to be no malicious intent… except, of course, the actual intrusion and theft of personal data off someone’s PC!
Whatever it is, if I find it happnes again, I’ll say “Adios, Friendster!”
Robb Expounded Thusly:
I got it too! I think Friendster got hacked. I was sent the “reminder invitation” to a completely different email account than the one on file at Friendster. It was sent to my Yahoo inbox, Friendster has my crappy Hotmail address. But both addresses are the same (only one is (at)hotmail and the other is (at)yahoo).
Steve, Who's On the Verge of Being Friendsterless, Expounded Thusly:
Just to follow-up, I had sent a complaint to Friendster about this. Like is usual with the responses one gets from any tech support service, whether it’s based in India or not, the reply was unhelpful. They said that those were reminder e-mails sent out from when I had invited people in the past.
Sigh.
So I had to write yet again and chew them out, saying, hey, re-read what I sent. I did not send out any invites, and someone had nabbed addresses and etc. etc. etc.
I still have not heard back from Friendster following the second complaint. Bastards.
Exclusive Concepts' Internet Marketing Blog Expounded Thusly:
Friendster’s Marketing Faux-pas
Friendster caused some trouble recently by sending emails to people who never responded to a mailing last year. Even though the company initiated the mailing, the emails appeared to come from a friend of the recipient. The move sparked outrage througho…
Steve Expounded Thusly:
How fun. I was quoted! Thanks, Elizabeth!
I did notice at that site that there’s a C|Net article about this. What no one seems to be realizing is that I NEVER INVITED ANYONE EVER EVER EVER! That is the story here, I feel. Not only did Friendster send out spam, but they (or some kind of virus) swiped my info from my PC and used it.
And I know the addresses were swiped from my PC (not my Mac) because the list of addresses I had to go through and delete from Friendster contained old addresses found only on my PC.
huntresj Expounded Thusly:
Couldn’t agree more. Cancelled Friendster immediately as well as wrote in complaint. Worst idea they could have done. I’m out.
Carla Expounded Thusly:
I promptly cancelled my Friendster account because of this. I couldn’t believe they had sent spam on my behalf! All the more reason to make MySpace the champion. 🙂
Still Friendstered Steve Expounded Thusly:
After all my bitching, I still have not canceled my account. In fact, someone I knew in college just “found” me and asked me to connect on Friendster. Yes, a real connect, not a spam connect.
I’m just being lazy because I’ll have to contact some people I only know on that site that I’m leaving it. Yes, that is sheer laziness. Lazy, lazy me!
No Longer Friendstered Steve Expounded Thusly:
There we go. It is done. I am no longer on Friendster. My nights will be lonely and cold now, but I will be warmed by my convictions.
The Wren Forum » Belated Testimonial Expounded Thusly:
[…] Today, I canceled my Friendster account. It took me a little while following the spam incident in part because it was hard to delete the kind and funny testimonials people had written about me. […]
Stephanie Expounded Thusly:
I came across this site when I was searching for “hate Friendster” on Yahoo. I don’t necessarily hate Friendster but was looking for people who might be interested in a new online social community that I created. It is http://www.WISEOZ.com. We launched this week and are trying everything we can (within reason and free of course) to find new members. I’d be interested in your thoughts on our new site.
The elevator speech for WISEOZ is …
WISEOZ is a teaming-inspired, event-based, and interest-oriented community where members collaborate, participate, socialize, connect, and win prizes through virtual online events (“WiseWits”), interest-based social networks (“Circles of Interest”), and establishment of an online identity (“My Ego”).
Anyhow, if you know of any good potential supporters, we are out here and could us all the ramp-up help we can get.
Thanks for listening.
Abi Expounded Thusly:
Hi there, i have an account in friendster but from now on i hate it! it was under maintenance for the the past 48 hours and when i log-in today i noticed that all my friends were gone. from 464, now its 3. i really hate friendster and the best part was that i was already logged-in when i visited the page.
Abi d 1 n Only
Erky Expounded Thusly:
I had been getting inundated with junk email from Friendster on a daily basis, with subject headings like ‘Suzy wants to meet with you”, and crap like that. I tried blocking them, but they kept getting through. I then sent them an email to please stop sending me junk, and this is the email that I got. My response to them is below that. After my response, my account was “suspended”.
Truly amazing isn’t it.
——————————————————————————-
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:21:45 -0800
From: help@friendster.com
To: ***********@hotmail.com
Subject: Please Stop the Junk Email [Incident: 090209-000550]
Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.
SUBJECT
Please Stop the Junk Email
DISCUSSION THREAD
RESPONSE (IVY) 02/10/2009 11:21 PM
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Friendster Customer Support.
It appears that you have created an account under the email address that you have provided. Before we can suspend or cancel accounts (or provide passwords), we need to first confirm your identity.
Please provide us with:
A Valid Photo ID (driver’s license, passport, Postal ID in the Philippines, or other government issued ID). You may block out any contact / address information.
Your may send your Photo ID by:
1. EMAIL: Scan, save jpeg attachment and attach to this case. Email custservice@friendster.com
2. MAIL: 800 W El Camino Real, Suite#170, Mountain View, CA 94040, Attention: Customer Service
3. FAX: (650) 964-4966 Attention: Customer Service
We hope this information helps and if there is anything else we can assist you with, please let us know.
Regards,
Ivy
Customer Support
CUSTOMER (******) 02/10/2009 07:31 AM
Ivy,
——————————————————————————–
My Response:
Ivy,
I have to send you personal information to opt out of unsolicited junk email?
A photocopy of my drivers License no less.
Would you like my Social Security number and Bank Account to go with that?
You have got to be kidding me, do you really think I trust a company that inundates me with junk email?
I’ll tell you what I will be doing.
1. Filing a Complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
2. Contacting my local Attorney General.
3. Posting your response to Scambusters, Rip off Report and any other consumer advocacy website I can find.
——————————————————————————-
Suspension of your Friendster accountâ€
From: friendster@friendster.com
Sent: Thu 2/12/09 2:31 AM
To: *********@hotmail.com
Your Friendster account has been suspended, because it violates
Friendster’s Terms of Service:
http://www.friendster.com/info/tos.php
If you have reviewed the Terms of Service, and do not believe your
account is in violation, please reply to custservice@friendster.com,
and include the following information:
First name: ******
Last name: ******
Email: *******@hotmail.com
ID #: *******
We will review your account, and re-instate it if it has been
inappropriately suspended.
Thank you,
Friendster Customer Service
CAROL Expounded Thusly:
I REALLY HATE FRIENDSTER TOO! I’VE BEEN ASKING THEM TO DELETE MY ACCOUNT SINCE IT HAS BEEN HACKED. I PROVIDED THEM WITH MY ID & STUFF BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THEY DIDNT DELETE IT. AND IT’S BEEN A YEAR ALREADY. FRIENDSTER SUCKS!
CAROL Expounded Thusly:
friendster sucks!@*%!#####… they get all the personal information, ask a copy of my ID. sent them all the requirements but then they still required me to take a picture of myself holding the id! duh??!!! isn’t that too much of my private life… tooo much than hacking????
Sorry, I ain't takin' no comments on this page. Deal, y'hear?