Several times a week I get an email from a client or friend asking me if an offer that they received by email is one which they should act upon. Almost every time it turns out to be a scam. I've decided to list the email scams that come through my contact forms and give you my thoughts on them. Hopefully I can help someone avoid getting taken by these scam artists.
Many of these are offering site audits, but they are complete automated junk.
Domain Notification for [removed] : This is your Final Notice of Domain Listing
Received March 30, 2016
This is definitely a scam. But it looks pretty official and I am sure that many people have fallen for this. Here is the email:
Attention: Important Notice , DOMAIN SERVICE NOTICE
Domain Name: [removed]
ATT: MARIE HAYNES
[removed]
Response Requested By
31 - March - 2016
PART I: REVIEW NOTICE
Attn: MARIE HAYNES
As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that it's time to send in your registration.
Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.
Privatization allows the consumer a choice when registering. Search engine registration includes domain name search engine submission. Do not discard, this notice is not an invoice it is a courtesy reminder to register your domain name search engine listing so your customers can locate you on the web.
This Notice for:[removed] will expire at 11:59PM EST, 31 - March - 2016 Act now!
Select Package:
http://easydomainsubmitting.
Payment by Credit/Debit Card
Select the term using the link above by 31 - March - 2016
When I first read this email it sounded like they were saying my domain registration was expired. That's a common scam. Some companies will even send snail mail notifications of renewing a domain at an inflated price as a scam. But, in this case, they are telling you that you need to register your domain name with search engines so that search engines like Google can find you. That doesn't even make sense.
I went to the website above and replaced my domain name in the url with fbi.gov. Here is what you will see:
Wow. For $297 they'll submit your site to 50 search engines for 5 years.
There is absolutely no need to do this and this is an outright scam.
Website Promotion
Received March 15, 2016
This email is one that sounds pretty believable but it is filled with lies (see below):
Hi,
My name is Ravi I work for a Registered Google Partner
And I did analysis your website [url removed] it’s not ranking on Google.
You need to strict SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
We can fairly quickly promote your website to the top of the search rankings with no long term contracts!
We can place your website on top of the Natural Listings on Google, Yahoo and MSN.
Our Search Engine Optimization team delivers more top rankings than anyone else and we can prove it.
We do not use "link farms" or "black hat" methods that Google and the other search engines frown upon and can use to de-list or ban your site.
The techniques are proprietary, involving some valuable closely held trade secrets. Our prices are less than half of what other companies charge.
We will also provide you with a checklist to show you the strengths and weaknesses of your current website.
If you would like to have a no-obligation discussion with me, please reply with your phone number?
Can I call you this week to discuss your campaign?
Best regards,
Ravi
IPERANET INC
GOOGLE PARTNER
Headquarters: 5859 Canoga Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
Other Offices: Hong Kong & China | Australia | New Zealand | UAE | Singapore
I have several problems with this email:
- The website mentioned is actually ranking #1 for almost all of their keywords, yet they say it is "not ranking on Google".
- While Google does have a certified partner program, it is for Adwords. There is no such thing as a certified partner that can help with SEO.
- No website is given. The website that I could find connected with Iperanet has nothing to do with SEO.
- The email is sent from a Gmail address not a company address which is a big red flag.
- There is no secret proprietary formula to help you rank better that would be within Google's guidelines.
This is definitely a scam email. Do not reply if you get it.
Better Traffic - Higher Sales/audit report now available
Emails like this make my blood boil. This was sent to a client of mine who is ranking really well (as in #1-2) for all of their main keywords:
Dear owner of [removed],
I’m sure you have been contacted in this matter many times before but our value proposition is much different. We show the client results before we ask for any further commitment.
As a business owner you might be interested to gain profit by placing your website among top in search engines.
Your website needs immediate improvement for some major issues with your website.
-Low online presence for many competitive keyword phrases
-Unorganized social media accounts
-Not compatible with all mobile devices
-Many bad back links to your website
I have selected your website [removed] and prepared a FREE website audit report. This is for you, completely free at no charge.
If my proposal sound's interesting for your business goal, feel free to email me, or can provide me with your phone number and the best time to call you. I am also available for an online meeting to present you this website audit report.
I look forward to hearing from you - thanks!
Best Regards,
Emma Adams
Marketing Consultant
PS: I am not spamming. I have studied your website, prepared an audit report and believe I can help with your business promotion. If you still want us to not contact you, you can ignore this email or ask to remove and I will not contact again.
Grrrrrrr. I can assure that "Emma" has not studied this website. If so, she would know that it is actually ranking really well for all of its main terms. The site also has no self-made backlinks aside from a couple of valid industry directories.
Also, the email comes from a Gmail account with no mention of what the company is.
Do not respond to this email should you get it.
Media Outreach (Guest Post)
Received January 6, 2016
This is an email that is advertising guest posting services. I'll explain shortly why you should be careful about this. But first, I want to take issue with how the email starts. It starts off by telling me that my site has dropped for certain search terms. That's a scare tactic.
This service that is being offered is probably not so much of a scam as the others listed below. But, it was an unsolicited email that was sent to one of my clients and goes against the CAN-SPAM act.
Here is the email:
Hi,
Our team has noticed that your website - [removed] has dropped in Google search ranking for keywords such as "removed" and other similar keywords. We are a content marketing (media outreach) firm located in India and can help you get published at high authority blogs/websites which can surely help you boost your online rankings.
Here are a few samples of our work in different niches:
[I've removed the 4 examples. They contain links that are probably considered unnatural. Sharing them might get the sites they link to in trouble.
Please let me know if you are interested.
Regards.
Himanshu Agarwal Founder, Smart Web Point |
The keyword for which they told this site owner they dropped is one that they don't even care about. This particular site (a client of mine) is ranking really well for all of their keywords.
The idea is to get you to think that your rankings are suffering and that you need their guest posting services in order to improve. Now, guest posting is a tricky thing. It can sometimes be ok. But, it is not recommended by Google to be used as a link building tactic. Matt Cutts, former head of webspam wrote against this a while ago. Also, I have written a long article about what is acceptable in Google's eyes regarding guest posting.
I had a look at the sites which they listed as examples. Two of these are most likely sites that belong to Private Blog Networks (PBNs). These are sites that are set up with the sole purpose of linking out. One site is probably a paid placement which goes against Google's guidelines. To be fair though, it could possibly be a valid link. And, the other only links out with nofollowed links which will not help your Google rankings at all.
In some instances it can make sense to reach out to related bloggers and guest post on their site. But, if you do do some guest blogging, you do not want to hire someone who cold called you with an unsolicited email.
!WEB*! expiration
There have been a lot of scams like this lately. I have a domain name that is indeed expiring soon. However, my domain name is registered with NameCheap and not the company that sent me this email. Here is the email they sent:
ATTENTION: IMPORTANT NOTICE
SEO Domain Registration Company
Notice#: 771973
Date: 11/06/2015
EXPIRATION NOTICE
DOMAIN: penguindates.com
Notification Purchase Proposal
EXPIRATION PROPOSAL DATE: 11/14/2015
To: MARIE HAYNES, HIS WEB MARKETIN
229 CYD ST.
CARP
ON, K0A 1L0, CANADA
Domain Name:
Registration SEO Period:
Price:
Term:
penguindates.com 11/28/2015 to 11/27/2016 $63.00 1 Year
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT
Domain Name: penguindates.com
Attn: MARIE HAYNES
This important expiration notification proposal notifies you about the expiration notice of your domain registration for penguindates.com search engine optimization submission. The information in this expiration notification proposal may contain confidential and/or legally privileged information from the notification processing department to purchase our search engine traffic generator. We do not register or renew domain names. We are selling traffic generator software tools. This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above.
If you fail to complete your domain name registration penguindates.com search engine optimization service by the expiration date, may result in the cancellation of this search engine optimization domain name notification proposal notice.
PLEASE CLICK ON
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT
TO COMPLETE YOUR PAYMENT.
Failure to complete your seo domain name registration penguindates.com search engine optimization service process may make it difficult for customers to find you on the web.
CLICK UNDERNEATH FOR IMMEDIATE PAYMENT
PROCESS PAYMENT FOR
penguindates.com
SECURE ONLINE PAYMENT
ACT IMMEDIATELY
This domain seo registration for penguindates.com search engine service optimization notification proposal will expire 11/14/2015.
This is an outright scam. I will be renewing my domain name with Namecheap (where it currently resides) and it should cost me about $10.
This company is likely gathering this information from the whois registry and sending this email out to anyone whose domain names are expiring soon. They are not legit.
1st Page of Google
Received October 15, 2015
Here is the email that I received today:
Hi,
I went to your website and wanted to shoot you a quick note. If you want I can make a few changes (aesthetically and/or SEO-wise) to make your site convert more visitors into leads and to get it placed higher in the organic search for a few of the select terms.
This is NOT like one of those emails you probably get in your inbox every day.
I would just need to know which (if not both) services you're open to checking out information about, either Responsive Web Design or SEO. Would you be open to seeing more brief info / quote for what I would like to accomplish?
Please share your requirement and give me a chance to work with you.
You can give me your Skype id or Contact Number E-mail to discuss more
Warm Regards,
Selena
Online Marketing Representative
Internet Marketing Experts - We know how to make Google Happy
If you are not on Google page 1, your website is a waste. Getting your site on Google 1st Page GUARANTEED.
This email is a little different than most spam emails that I receive as the site nowoutsource.com that is referenced in the email address actually does exist. It's a new website, established in May of 2015. That doesn't necessarily mean that it is a scam operation.
However, sending unsolicited email like this is not a good thing. Even though the email says, "This is NOT like one of those emails you get in your inbox every day", it is indeed just like this. Any SEO company that is good at what they do does not need to spam emails in order to get clients. I can guarantee you that Selena did not go to my website and see a few small changes that could rocket me to the top of Google.
Also, no one can guarantee you top Google rankings.
Audit Report Available
Received August 6, 2015
These emails really bug me because they look legitimate. I mean, who wouldn't want a free report about their site's SEO? But you can be certain that this is a scam. The email comes from a Gmail address which is usually a sign that something is not right. Bob has provided me with no website to visit and he's apparently not a part of any company.
Dear owner of [removed],
I’m sure you have been contacted in this matter many times before but our value proposition is much different. We show the client results before we ask for any further commitment.
As a business owner you might be interested to gain profit by placing your website among top in search engines.
Your website needs immediate improvement for some major issues with your website.
-Low online presence for many competitive keyword phrases
-Unorganized social media accounts
-Not compatible with all mobile devices
-Many bad back links to your website
I have selected your website [removed] and prepared a FREE website audit report. This is for you, completely free at no charge.
If my proposal sound's interesting for your business goal, feel free to email me, or can provide me with your phone number and the best time to call you. I am also available for an online meeting to present you this website audit report.
I look forward to hearing from you - thanks!
Best Regards,
Bob Delay
Marketing Consultant
PS: I am not spamming. I have studied your website, prepared an audit report and believe I can help with your business promotion. If you still want us to not contact you, you can ignore this email or ask to remove and I will not contact again.
I received Bob's email in reference to a site of mine that is actually ranking very well for many terms, is mobile friendly, and definitely doesn't have bad backlinks. Please don't fall for this scam.
Tasty Web Placement
Received Aug 3, 2015
This is an email that looks more legitimate than most. The writer speaks of a system they have that is 88% effective. But 88% effective at what? Increasing conversions? Bringing more traffic? They don't say what they have improved. This email comes from a Gmail address which is a surefire sign that something fishy is up. There is no link to their successful company. The only search results I could find for the sender, "Art Babayen" are spam reports. This does not look at all like a legitimate SEO company that can help you.
Also, this request came through my form on my old site HIS Web Marketing. I kept this contact form live in search engines rather than redirecting it to my new site so that it would act as a spam filter. The only people who contact me through this form are spam bots.
Here is the text:
From: Art Babayen <tastywebplacement@gmail.com>
Subject: hiswebmarketing Contact Form submission
Message Body:
Website:
That’s the goal of most websites and yet so many fall short of that goal. My company has created a unique process that works 88% of the time (We’re working on that other 12%).
What we do is make critical changes to the design and aesthetics, focusing on all “Call to Action” areas. In addition to that, we take steps to ensure that your website is completely mobile friendly for phones and tablets.
Mobile now comprises over 50% of all e-commerce traffic. Though it seems hard to believe, this is the future of e-commerce and we are here to make sure your business is ready.
Please contact us if we can be of service.
Thanks,
Art Babayen,
If you are not interested in receiving my offers and emails in the future just reply back with remove and I will remove you.
I have personally reviewed your website...
Yeah ok...I'm sure you have personally reviewed my website. This email came through on the contact form for my old site, hiswebmarketing.com. I rebranded recently to MarieHaynes.com and left my old contact form up on the internet. The only requests that come through it are spam requests. Today I got this one.
Received July 28, 2015
From: Ryan Anderson <focuzcreativestudio@gmail.com>
Subject: hiswebmarketing Contact Form submission
Message Body:
Website:
I wanted to shoot you a quick note regarding your website. I can make changes so your site will convert more visitor’s into revenue by allowing your website to be found easier in the search engines by your clients and audience.
I would just need to know if you're open to checking out information about what we can do for you. Would you be open to seeing more info and a quote for what I would like to accomplish?
Thanks and let me know
Ryan Anderson
PS - I have personally reviewed your website and am ready to speak with you
If Ryan had actually reviewed my website, he'd see that it was an SEO website and not one that is likely to respond to a contact form request for SEO help. Any time the return address is a Gmail address, you know that this is not likely a reputable SEO company. Also, a good SEO company does not need to spam emails in order to get business.
Complete Search Engine Registration for Your Domain
These emails really bother me. They are a flat out illegal way to try to scam people into paying money that they don't need to pay.
Hi there Marie Haynes,
Domain Name: [removed] (Account #66544840)
This email is being sent out to you because search registration for [removed] is pending.
Please register these domains to search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo ASAP to avoid late fees.
Registering for search engines would help you show up in search results and increase your online presence.
You can register your domain at link given below :
http://searchsubscription.com/
We sincerely appreciate your business! If you require anything, we are at your service.
Remember... If you do not register your domain with the search engines, it may not appear in the search engine listing when people are looking for you. Failure to complete your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may make it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web. Complete your search engine registration today.
Sincerely,
Search Register
110 Middle Road,
#07-03A Chiat Hong Building,
Singapore 188968.
I'm a pretty calm person, but emails like this make my blood boil. It looks official, and at minimum, many people will click on the link. The link possibly leads to a phishing or hacking attempt. The website, searchsubscription.com was only created 22 days ago so it's unlikely that this is any sort of legitimate service.
Here is a similar spam email which I also received in July of 2015:
Attention: Important Notice , DOMAIN SERVICE NOTICE
Domain Name: MARIEHAYNES.COM
Complete and return by fax to:
1-716-650-4793
ATT: HIS WEB MARKETING
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT
-
MARIE@HISWEBMARKETING.COM
229 CYD ST. - - OTTAWA - ONTARIO - K0A 1L0
CANADA
WWW.MARIEHAYNES.COM
Please ensure that your contact information is correct or make the necessary changes above
Requested Reply Before
JULY 24,2015
PART I: REVIEW SOLICITATION
Attn: HIS WEB MARKETING
As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that it's time to send in your registration and save.
Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.
Privatization allows the consumer a choice when registering. Search engine subscription includes domain name search engine submission. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts stated below unless you accept this offer. Do not discard, this notice is not an invoice it is a courtesy reminder to register your domain name search engine listing so your customers can locate you on the web.
This Notice for: WWW.MARIEHAYNES.COM will expire on JULY 24,2015 Act today!
Select Term:
[ ] 1 year 07/24/2015 - 07/24/2016 $75.00
[ ] 2 year 07/24/2015 - 07/24/2017 $119.00
[ ] 5 year 07/24/2015 - 07/24/2020 $199.05
[ ] 10 year -Most Recommended- 07/24/2015 - 07/24/2025 $295.00
[ ] Lifetime (NEW!) Limited time offer - Best value! Lifetime $499.00
Today's Date: _____________________ Signature: _____________________
Payment by Credit Card
Select the term above, then return by fax: 1-716-650-4793
MARIEHAYNES.COM
Link Exchange
Oh dear. This is never a good idea.
Dear Webmaster,
As the Site operator of InternetSEOsolutions.com, I would like to invite you to exchange links with us.
The entire week we will conduct a unique link exchange that will focus on real links with real traffic from real sites with real content!
Why Trade links with us?
A. Totally free of charge.
B. We have an extremely high Alexa Traffic Rank compared to other online SEO websites.
C. We occupy Google's top positions for various topics.
D. We are content rich and proud of it!
I would like to keep this link exchange as relevant as possible to your site(s) as well,
this is why I'm offering a variety of inner pages you can link to and remember,
sites sending good related links will receive the same treatment in terms of quality and relevance.
Please let me know what type of link exchanges is optional for hiswebmarketing.com. I can offer you:
Three-way/In-direct Exchanges
Links from related sites within content
High PR and/or Content Backlinks
Any other suggestion you might have...
It all ends up with what you've got to offer. We promise a free, fair and honest exchange with each of our participants.
These are all link schemes, and likely to get you in hot water with Google.
White Hat SEO Services
Received June 29, 2015
This one is short and sweet. I can't believe that an email like this would generate any leads, but I keep getting them, so they must fool a few people:
Name: Susan Hill
Email: susanhill032@gmail.com
Messages: We strongly believe that we have an excellent opportunity to increase the number of visitors to your website through our white-hat SEO services at a very affordable price.Email us back to get a full proposal.
Once again, this is an email from a Gmail address. Any reputable company would email from their company address. With that said, any GOOD SEO company who can legitimately do Google-friendly SEO is not going to need to randomly email people in order to get business.
WAM Networks
Received June 26, 2015
Here is spam email that I received today:
Hello,
My name is Michelle and I represent the Web Networks Web-Development Department . I recently browsed through your business website and wanted to highlight some key points for consideration.
Cut a long story short I think I can help your website rank on Search-Engines a lot easier. I have compiled a website-audit which lists all the areas that your website needs improvement in.
I am happy to send it through at no-cost-of course all I want is the chance to cal you to see if we can help.
Would you be interested in this Website-Audit? Are you available this week to discuss?
Best regards,
MICHELLE
WAM NETWORKS LLC
WEB NETWORK LLC
-GOOGLE PARTNER
Headquarters: 5850 Canoga Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Other Locations: Hong Kong | China | Australia | New Zealand | UAE
Why is this email spam? The first hint is that the return email address is a Gmail address. Next, there is no website listed. I Googled Wam Networks and could not find a listing. I also Googled the address and found it was a virtual mailbox. I am certain that this is a scam.
Email from a "Search Specialist in NY"
Received via a client's website June 24, 2015
Ugh. These emails are the worst. This came through the contact forms of one of my clients:
Dear Owner of "(removed)"
My name is Ashley Williams I'm a Search Specialist from New York, NY.
I wanted to share some major issues I found that are currently harming your search rankings:
• There are many technical problems on your site, such as: HTML errors, missing Meta tags, broken links etc. Confirm this by visiting validator.w3.org or brokenlinkcheck.com.
• There are very few external links pointing to your site. Confirm this by scanning your website with ahrefs.com.
• There are several 'bad' or 'suspicious' links pointing to your website. Confirm this by checking with Google Webmaster Tools.
• There are other websites duplicating your content, which adversely affects your website rankings. Confirm this by visiting copyscape.com.
I can help you fix these issues and get your website ranking on the 1st page of Google.
I’d be happy to send a proposal for your website, including prices and results achieved for other clients. If you are interested, just email me back or provide me with your phone number and best time to call.
Best Regards,
Ashley Williams
SEO Specialist
PS: This is not spam. I studied your website, prepared an audit report and believe I can help with your website promotion. If you do not want me to contact you, you can ignore this email or ask to remove and I will not contact again
Listen Ashley...saying that "this is not spam" does not make this email legitimate. Requests like this are outright spam. The email came from Ashley@googlebestrankings.org. Check out the website at googlebestrankings.org:
A good SEO company will not need to solicit emails by spamming contact forms. This type of email was created simply to prey on small business owners who are not SEO savvy. Please do not respond to emails like this.
New SEO WordPress Link Building Plugin
Sent to me June 24, 2015
A client sent me this email asking if it would be a good idea for them. I've removed the name of the plugin, but have left the majority of the text in the email. This is not so much as an SEO scam, but rather a really bad idea. What the plugin does is create a link wheel. It creates a resource page on your site where you link out to recommended resources. Then, it adds your website to all of the other websites that have installed this plugin.
Any automated link building plan like this is considered a link scheme and is at risk for either causing site demotion via Google's Penguin Algorithm or inviting a Manual Unnatural Links Penalty. Here are some points from Google's quality guidelines that describe a few things that Google considers as link schemes:
- Excessive link exchanges ("Link to me and I'll link to you") or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking (Note: Even though the plugin says that no two websites will exchange links, this would still be probably easy for Google to pick up as a link wheel.)
- Using automated programs or services to create links to your site
Please don't install this plugin! Here is the email:
Hey (name removed)!
I checked out your site and noticed you running a combination of WordPress and the Yoast SEO plug-in... Emailing to see if you'd be interested in a free copy of our new SEO link building WordPress plug-in called '(removed)'
It's essentially a small business community connected to each other via the plugin. It automatically builds links to your site from other users of the plug-in. Specifically the plug-in is adding your link and description to other members 'resource' pages. You can see it in action here: (removed)
We only accept 100% real, legitimate and family-friendly business websites and the links built to your site will either be related to your niche or from sites in your local area. We also make sure no two websites exchange links as Google increases Google rankings more for one way links.
Think of it as an online business networking and cross promotion group... Automated 🙂
At the moment we have xxx members and we're already seeing really nice jumps in members Google rankings and traffic. Once we have 250 members, new members (not you) will be charged a monthly fee, but we're just getting this going at the moment so it will be free for you forever 🙂
if I'm not explaining this well can check things out and sign up on the website here:
(removed)
If you have any questions, reply back... Happy to help!
James
(contact info removed)
Have you been affected by the silent Google update?
Received June 24, 2015:
From: Nick <nick@increaseonlinebusiness.
Subject: hiswebmarketing Contact Form submission
Message Body:
Website:
Have you been affected by the silent Google update?
Hope you are well.
I was surfing through your website. When we search for any keyword pertaining to your domain, your website does not come on the first page of Google. So how would people come to know about your website? If you want your website to appear on first page of Google then please let me know. We can provide you certain Top 10 Google rankings.
I look forward to your Mail.
This is definitely a scam. When you go to the website (increaseonlinebusiness dot com) you get a placeholder page with a pretend link to an "official website":
I like Jenny Halasz's response to this:
@Marie_Haynes I like to ask people how they know my website exists if they didn't find it through a search engine.
— Jenny Halasz (@jennyhalasz) June 24, 2015
Great point!
A few key points which need SEO attention
Received June 23, 2015
Hi mytrafficdropped.com Team,
Hope you are doing well.
We went through your website mytrafficdropped.com and got to know few key points, which needs your attention on priority to transform your SEO efforts.
This might seem irrelevant now but believe me with recent updates from Google, we think you are losing out the most. We have a complete analysis report ready with us for mytrafficdropped.com along with a checklist.
There are many companies who work only with standard SEO strategies however we stand out by making directed efforts on research based competitor analysis.
Here are few key points where your website needs immediate improvement:
Responsive design to prepare for recent Mobilegeddon update from Google.
Low online presence for many competitive keyword phrases.
Market research based approach in comparison to standard approach.
Fixing errors that prevents your website from being indexed properly by search engine.
Providing relevant content to create theme based back links and eliminate the bad back links.
Creating and maintaining proper landing page to increase link relevance.
Active and regular updates and posts on social media portals to increase the popularity and brand awareness.
As a digital marketing company we have grown along with our customers, because of some key propositions as delivering solution by competent Google Analytics certified professionals and we don’t bind our customers with any set up fee or contract, i.e. (NO CONTRACT or NO SET UP FEE).
This e-mail provides you with a glimpse of services which we offer. If you have any queries about our services then kindly contact us back for a free website audit report.
Should you be interested, get in touch with us on the mentioned email address or contact number.
Best Regards,
Richard Rodriguez |DM Consultant
Skype: web.solutiondm
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------
1: If you are interested we will send more details on our “company profile”, “Price list”, “money back” etc. in our next mail.
P.S: - Once you reply us back, the next communication will be done from our corporate ID. Or you may ask us to “UNSUBSCRIBE”.
Sigh. Emails like this were generated by people who are just spamming as many contact forms as they can find. I always laugh when I get these via the contact form on www.MyTrafficDropped.com. This was a fun project that I created to help people determine why their traffic dropped. I wonder if I should take Richard up on his offer and find out why this site is not generating traffic?
I'll update this post each time I get a scam email.
Comments
Thanks for posting this as the last one I got seemed semi-genuine but the name is different for the same Skype Name. I have noticed that a lot are from Gmail accounts and always wonder why they don’t write from their domain which to me seems dodgy. It’s so easy for people to be caught out.
Thanks Sonya. Sending from a gmail address is always a red flag for me. I’m glad that my post helped!
I’m wondering why Google or (Gmail) doesn’t shut down these bogus spam accounts? My spam folder is Full with these. I have a lot of clients asking me “Is This For Real?” so the answer would be yes. People do believe this garbage. Sad to say but there is a sucker born every minute. And this is what they (spammers) are counting on.
Great article by the way..Thanks for taking the time to post all these scams!
Thanks Steve,
This is exactly why I produced this post. I was having clients email me regularly asking if these emails were legit. Even those these emails look super spammy to you and me, they must get some people falling for them. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Received an email eerily similar to the last example in your post just the other day. Almost responded to it, but thought I’d better check out the name of the sender/company before I responded(see below).
Daniel Ribeiro |DM Consultant
PH. No: +1 (530)-936-5916
Skype: web.solutiondm
After googling “solutiondm” I came across your post. Very glad I did. Thank you for taking the time to create this post and help SMBs like us.
Thanks for letting me know that this post was helpful to you Amelia. I wonder how many people DO respond to these and get scammed!
Hi,
I just wanted to say that I got this email today. I get so many, but this one did seem a little more legit. I want to thank you for taking the time to put all the companies on here. I see several scams on here that I have gotten in the past. I’m going to pass your info onto my friends. Thank you again. Have a great day!
Thanks for letting me know that this has helped you!
Hi I received the following and thought you might be interested in including it here:
Hi, My Name is Splashy Patterson
I was looking at your website pastelpayroll.co.za and decided to send you an email. We can help your website rank on the 1st page of Google to drive relevant traffic to your site. I did a deep analysis of your website and after the analysis I came to a conclusion that your website has the capability to get you more business than you are currently based upon where you are positioned.
Can I call you and run some ideas I have in mind to help your business grow?
Looking forward to hear from you
Best,
Splashy Patterson
Senior Web Analyst
The Web Audit Team
9th Downtown Street
Los Angeles, CA
As usual, the contact e-mail is a gmail account: demotion68528@gmail.com
I got the same today and thank goodness I decided to look up this firm. Here it is so that it can recognisable as a scam.
Hi Team,
Hope you are doing well.
I thought you might like to know some of the key points which you need to address on priority and this can be the reason why you are not getting desired position out of continued SEO efforts.
Well, you might consider this irrelevant but believe me, I have a complete analysis report ready with me for your website.
– Your website needs immediate improvement on major factors like:
– Low online presence for many competitive keyword phrases
– Fixing errors that prevents your website from being indexed properly by search engine.
– Unorganized social media accounts.
– Providing relevant content to create theme based back links and eliminate the bad back links.
– Active and regular updates and posts on social media portals to increase the popularity and brand awareness.
We offer several services for your website such as Online Reputation Management, Social Media Optimization, SEO activities among others. We have excelled along with our customers because of some key propositions as delivering solution by competent Google Analytics certified professionals and we don’t bind our customers with any set up fee or contract, i.e. (NO CONTRACT or NO SET UP FEE).
This e-mail provides you with a glimpse of some of the services which we offered from our company. If you have any queries about our services then kindly contact us back for a free website audit report.
Should you be interested, get in touch with us on the mentioned email address or contact number.
Best Regards,
Theo Theo |DM Consultant
PH. No: +1 (530)-936-5916
Skype: web.solutiondm
—————————— —————————— ——————————
1: This is a onetime email and you may ask us to “UNSUBSCRIBE”.
2: If you are interested we will send more details on our “corporate identity”, “company profile”, “why you should choose us?”, “Price list”, “money back” etc. in our next mail.
Hi, My Name is Samwell Tarly .We have got excellent website ranking from the above given outsourced SEO firms at low cost.
Cheers,
Samwell, I have mentioned a whole bunch of companies above. Which one(s) have you used and what type of work did they do for you?
I received a bunch of the email mention above everyday. Today I received the email below coming form email: edna8569@gmail.com
As you can see after you read the message below the email addres name has no relation to the name of the email. It is anther way of catching a scam.
Hi There,
My Name is Salvador Shannon working as a senior web marketing manager for one of the biggest web marketing companies in US. We are presently working with more than 1000 business owners and most of them enjoy page 1 search engine rankings.
We would like to offer you our performance based SEO program for frankssports.com. You only pay once we rank your keywords on front page of google. You don’t pay a dime before you have your business ranked. You got nothing to loose, if we are not able to deliver rankings for your website in the time frame discussed we stop there and then.
Our pricing starts at just $199 / month that too only after we have ranked your website. No upfront fee / No set up cost / No black hat SEO.
Let us know if you would be interested in discussing this further.
Salvador Shannon
Senior Web Analyst
The Web Audit Team
9th Sports Street
Provo, Utah
Thanks. That’s another good tip. If the name of the sender doesn’t match with the email address, that raises a flag.
I find it interseting to see this artical considerin I recieved spam from you today noting another websit on which mine is listed. Looks like you are the scam.
FROM marnie85954@gmail.com
Hi, My Name is Pasquale Lange
I was looking at your website hauntx.com and decided to send you an email. We can help your website rank on the 1st page of Google to drive relevant traffic to your site. I did a deep analysis of your website and after the analysis I came to a conclusion that your website has the capability to get you more business than you are currently based upon where you are positioned.
Can I call you and run some ideas I have in mind to help your business grow?
Looking forward to hear from you
Best,
Pasquale Lange
Senior Web Analyst
The Web Audit Team
9th Downtown Street
Los Angeles, CA
Hi. I’m not following you here. You’re thinking that *I* sent the email above to you?
I got the similar kind of email today.
Re : Website Promotion
Hi….
This is Kelly, and I work for a certified Google Partner Company.
Currently, I discovered your website and wanted to mail you a quick note with few simple changes to make your site more USER friendly. I am confident it will go together your-S.E.O.-work and help pull towards you quality visitors and ever more range high on the search engine result’s page (SERP).
Some changes, aesthetically and/or-S-E-O-wise can generate your website switch more visitors into leads and also get it placed higher in the common search results, for a few of the select terms.
I will moreover provide you with a checklist to give information related to the strengths and weaknesses of your Website
If you would like to have a no-obligation talk with me, please reply with your Name and phone number.
Thanks & Best regards,
Kelly Scott
kellyinternetmarketing4@gmail.com
IPERANET INC
GOOGLE PARTNER
Headquarters: 5859 Canoga Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
Other Offices: Hong Kong & China | Australia | New Zealand | UAE | Singapore
Marie Haynes,
Thanks, I almost fell for this SEO SCAM. Read your site, will signup for your email.
Here’s a paraphrase of another one:
Hi, I’m just a random person and I noticed on your webpage at xxxx.html that the link “brokenlink.com” is broken, you might want to fix it.
By the way, I also found another useful link that you might want to consider adding to the page: MightOrMightNotBehalfwayRelevant.com.
Thanks, generic name @ gmail.com
—————
They pretend to be a real person offering “help” on a broken link (which usually -is- broken) then offer up another link of their own. These emails always follow the same formula; it’s someone at an SEO company that is trying to spread links to increase ranking.
I always fix the broken link, and ignore the rest. Email goes straight to ignore list.
Thanks. Broken Link building used to work well, but now, I’m like you and really don’t like receiving these emails. I’d much rather they come out and tell me straight up that their trying to build links to their clients. I always feel like I’m being duped otherwise.
Hi there,
I’ve wanted to reach out to you: I’ve taken a look at mariehaynes.com, in addition to your company’s overall online presence. Would you be open to discussing a few things where I think we can make a huge difference?
Most specifically, I think we can drive a lot more targeted traffic, as well as converting the visitors into sales.
If increasing visitors/sales by 35%-180% is something you’d like, just reply here so I can have my teammates get in touch at your phone number . At the very least, I promise, we’ll show you a few things you might have not previously considered.
Looking forward to connecting,
Adriana
This is a funny comment. LOL.
Such a great article about small business seo. Everyone should follow this blog.
Excellent, what a weblog it is! This web site presents
useful information to us, keep it up.
The thing I find so hilarious about SEO scams is this (and this what I tell my friends in the business). If they were REALLY that good with SEO, they wouldn’t have to send me an email because I would have found them first!