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Truly Stupid Email from Companies! Show Us Yours...

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J-Mac:
OK, granted this email from ACD Systems, the developer of ACDSee photo organization software, is old - from 2006 - but it is still a classic in my book! Apparently they either really thought that the Yahoo Toolbar was all that, or they are incurably stupid enough to have thought that they could convince their customers that it is...

Jim

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mwb1100:
Today I got this email, supposedly from the "Intel AppUp Center":

[attachthumb=#1][/attachthumb]

I had never heard of the AppUp Center, and all of the URLs in the email were either from the www.ifcba.com or intel.ymc0.net domains.  I don't know about you, but this thing smelled like some sort of phishing attempt (or an attempt to get you to download something containing malware, if that's different than phishing).

Anyway, it turns out that the AppUp Center is a half-ass attempt by Intel to have a netbook/MeeGo marketplace or something.  I guess they contracted out their spam campaign to ifcba.com.  I don't know who ymc0.net is; my curiosity about this has dwindled to nothing...

I guess it was successful at letting me know there is an Intel AppUp Center.  Not that I'll ever get anything from it.

housetier:
J-Mac: I think Yahoo paid them money and so they included the search bar, whether or not it makes sense for the user. I have seen this pattern at my former workplace several times.


mwb1100: I would have called it a phishing attempt also. There is no technical need for the data to go to a non-intel domain, even if the hardware is not intel's: DNS can take of that, but only intel controls intel.com domain space. So if they aren't using intel's domain they might not be doing proper business for intel...

I am very quick to distrust emails...

lanux128:
J-Mac: I think Yahoo paid them money and so they included the search bar, whether or not it makes sense for the user. I have seen this pattern at my former workplace several times.-housetier (March 02, 2011, 12:38 AM)
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it's possible that sales were not that good and the devs decided to go this 'toolbar' way.

J-Mac:
OH, I have no doubt that Yahoo paid them, as they do for all developers who stick that toolbar in their installers. I just have not seen any other developer notify their users and try to sell the darn thing as a benefit like this!

Jim

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