Yet another questionable firm touting e-mail lists has emerged and evidence indicates it may be related to EmailAppenders, a firm several marketers have accused of ripping them off.
Also, new evidence has surfaced tying various questionable list firms together.
Moreover, a pattern has emerged in some of their e-mail pitches where the senders are using vague, two-letter designations to refer to their companies.
A reader who asked not to be identified last week received an e-mail pitching lists from someone claiming to be Hank Owings with a company called “OB.”
The message was sent from Hanko@listmarketers.biz.
A search online for ListMarketers.biz revealed no corporate Web site.
However, a Google search using the telephone number Owings provided, 800-718-4087, yielded results for OptInBuilders, OptInLists and SixChannels, three firms evidence indicates are operated by the same India-based firm that operates EmailAppenders.
In a post to a discussion thread on TechWeb.com last November, someone identifying herself as Betty White from SixChannels pitched the group on e-mail lists and appending services.
At the end of the post, she identified herself as an online marketing executive with “SC Inc.” and provided the same phone number as Owings did last week for OB.
Also, someone identifying himself as Nick Moses from OptInBuilders published an article about e-mail marketing on DocStoc.com.
The article gave 800-718-4087 as OptInBuilders’ telephone number, the same as that provided by Owings for OB and White for SixChannels and SC.
Is it possible that while White clearly identified her firm as SixChannels in the body of a post and by its initials SC in the footer, Owings’ reference to his firm as OB is not a reference to OptInBuilders even though Owings gave the same phone number for his firm as Moses did for OptInBuilders in his article? Sure, but unlikely.
Meanwhile, still another firm has used that phone number.
In a post on LinkedIn Answers someone claiming to be William Russell from OptInLists gave as his phone number 800-718-4087, the same as that given by White of SixChannels, Owings of OB and Moses of OptInBuilders.
A message left on the voice mail for that number was not returned.
According to anti-spam outfit Spamhaus’ ROKSO list, or Register of Known Spam Operations, an India-based firm called Sloan Marketing/Data Champions operates or has operated EmailAppenders.com, EmailAppenders.net, OptInBuilders.biz, OptInBuilders.com, SixChannels.com and SixChannelsMail.com.
Also according to Spamhaus, among the phone numbers Data Champions/Sloan Marketing has used is 800-718-4087, the number given as contact information for OB, OptInBuilders, OptInLists and SixChannels. And also according to Spamhaus, Data Champions/Sloan Marketing has used 800-718-3291, the number SixChannels currently lists on its site.
Meanwhile, another reader who asked to remain anonymous recently received a spam message pitching e-mail lists from someone claiming to be Suzi Carlsberg at WDC Marketing.
Carlsberg gave her phone number as 713-893-4171. A Google search on that number brings up listings for SalesBrowser, another firm that has been linked to Data Champions/Sloan Marketing.
SalesBrowser has claimed as its U.S. headquarters the same Houston address as ListOrbitMail, NetSalesLists and SixChannnels.
The same reader received an e-mail selling lists from someone claiming to be Nancy Phillips at “PM Inc.” A copy’s of Phillips’ e-mail is posted on Spamhaus under Data Champions/Sloan Marketing, indicating that Spamhaus volunteers also believe PM Inc. is another firm operated by the India-based marketer.
And still another reader who asked to remain anonymous recently received a message pitching e-mail appending from someone claiming to be Carol Adams from LO Online Services.
When the reader e-mailed questions, someone responded claiming to be Brad Harris, business development manager with ListOrbitMail.
According to Spamhaus, ListOrbitOnline is one of the domains Data Champions has operated.
ListOrbitMail is one of four companies, including SixChannels, that claim the same Houston post-office box as their U.S. headquarters.
