UniChris

Why did I just get a spam email about "toxic protein" from bike forums?

If customer info isn't rent sold or leased, then how come the spam?

And a couple weeks ago there was "Don’t Miss this Chance to Take Control of Your Finances" from the same sender

veganbikes

I don't know but I would stop sending Spam emails from Bike Forums about toxic protein. Also if you miswrote and meant to say that BF is sending spam emails it is probably from a sponsor and I would simply just report it to the mods or use the proper thread for reportation.

Iride01 

On another forum I use a member was all upset about getting spam and the particular forum was mentioned in the SPAM mailing. No one else on this small forum was getting the spam. It was discovered that member had publicly posted their email address in a reply to a thread some months before.

unterhausen

I'm not sure both of those are really BF. I just got the "remove this from your refrigerator" email, which is from BF. I haven't unsubscribed so I'll know when people are going to be complaining about them.

You have to unsubscribe via the link in the email or you will keep getting them.

Gotta keep the lights on somehow, I guess.

ScottRiqui

I got the "remove this from your refrigerator" email today, too. I've unsubscribed via the link in the email, but I'm not hopeful; the less-scrupulous emailers just see a click on an "unsubscribe" link as proof that the recipient email is valid and actually being used.

unterhausen

We have been promised that unsubscribe in the email works, let us know if it doesn't

dsaul

Did you uncheck the "receive messages from sponsors" option in your profile, under "edit options. I still get the occasional email from Bike Forums, but most of them have stopped.

two_wheel

So my question is why are we receiving this email to begin with? Especially since in my case, I have the checkbox ( Receive our newsletter and special promotions from our partners) UNCHECKED in the User Control Panel. (UserCP -> Settings & Options -> Edit Options -> Messaging & Notification) which is where this type of activity should be controlled. What this means is that either user's contact information has been shared outside of their control. This is a big NO-NO. Or, since "Bike Forums does not rent, sell, or lease customer information." then that means that the "toxic protein" clickbait email "originated" from Bike Forums and is considered Newsletter information. Again, not good.

cb400bill

Just hit the Unsubscribe button and move on.

datlas 

This. I understand some folks may not like the fact that they have to not only check the box in their profile AND unsubscribe from the junk mail, but that’s the best solution for now.

cathalferris

I'm still receiving this crap.

And yes BF admins, it's very much a GDPR violation in what you did - and also you did not seek my permission post GDPR for the "right" to sell or otherwise distribute my PII to anyone.
Your parent company is not/should not be a data processor for these forums - no matter what poor legal advice you got..
Last warning - remove my contact details from the entity that keeps sending the spam emails. That is your responsibility and yours alone. Requesting me to click on a spam email is not the solution - you provided those details illegally upwards, you get to fix the problem.

Next non-BF email I receive to the address that I signed up here with - and I then report *each* instance since the start to my country's GDPR authorities as a violation.

After all - each instance of an email I receive after my notification of the problem last year carries the full fine..

Just to clarify - it's definitely the responsibility of BF to ensure that the entity that you have illegally provided my PII to, no longer sends me email. Note - BF-specific email is fine, commercial emails are definitively not.

You have a problem, you get to fix it.

unterhausen

Just to be clear, the moderators and administrators of this site do not have any involvement in these emails and have no power to do anything about it. Your quarrel is with Internet Brands, the corporate owner of the site.

veganbikes

That is exactly what someone would want us to believe. Next you are going to say that the Lizard people don't control the government and that if you rearrange Biden's name it is Nibed which is Igbo (a secret Nigerian language) for Nibed which cannot be translated into in English because they don't want us knowing it means take over the country and install 6G cell phone towers that will cause us to turn into Chicken-Whale hybrids so the Lizard people in Washington can eat us.

I am on to you unterhausen covering up a deep conspiracy with some fake company name called Internet Brands. I like the added touch of the Wikipedia, Linkedin, Bloomberg and Glassdoor pages and even that you registered the site and populated it as if it were real but it won't fool us. Robert N. Brisco more like Liebert N. Liesco

unterhausen

****, you saw through it all. When you name me in the lawsuit be sure to use my full title, Herr Doktor Kapitan Unterhausen.

I just wanted to add that IB has your email address and the emails do indeed originate from IB. So unsubscribing through the IB link in the email gives them nothing further of value. It's not going to the toxic refrigerator people.

Siu Blue Wind

Here is the body of the email. Please note the red (by me) parts.

Dear Reader,

Most Americans feel like no matter how many diets they go on or how
much they exercise, they still struggle with weight gain, junk food
cravings, and even belly bloat.

The blame is commonly pointed towards a bad metabolism, poor genetics,
and even old age. However, a new breakthrough discovery shows that the
real culprit is linked to one extremely common protein that is likely
in your refrigerator right now.

While consuming the right protein can help you lose huge amounts of
weight, the wrong protein can be a major risk to your health.

https://click.travel.ibemail.com/?qs=605408b7fd6ba9318c70cbf08c7a254443670a56d4cf0081349d9a62036cdc483441d6be6fb0aaa855a33fe22d9b1100
Click here to find out this one common “toxic” protein.

P.S. Consuming this protein can lead to weight gain, junk food
cravings and decreased energy levels, so
https://click.travel.ibemail.com/?qs=605408b7fd6ba9318c70cbf08c7a254443670a56d4cf0081349d9a62036cdc483441d6be6fb0aaa855a33fe22d9b1100
watch this shocking presentation right now.

This email is intended for subscribers only. Bike Forums does not
rent, sell, or lease customer information. Bike Forums is located at
909 N. Sepulveda Blvd., 11th Floor El Segundo, CA. 90245. View our
online
https://click.travel.ibemail.com/?qs=605408b7fd6ba9312ca2a6add45bb72625c975183d6b5d0ab6b61d2e0ec97a458ee94a8fd2f4d18b77ff7ea782f80a3a
privacy policy . You have received this promotion as you are a
registered member who has opted-in for Bike Forums newsletters.

https://click.travel.ibemail.com/unsub_center.aspx?qs=1df9e34a3f6d9839b31848bd359d4b2bd1cd073e6ac7604e4650302be74eb18749dd35b843b4728 b7e133ecf6979c069ed53d9bc6df626ddd9d3395e44a59730f43980f94ceba997
Remove Me |
https://view.travel.ibemail.com/?qs=77e3a621d30f1ddcec9e2ce158c8412d009f7316221eff554d5a499801a49fcdff01caf05cdf843dd2fef5c1fe691543 9de07398f754711c2d3681816bbc4d04f28977f9ad05fe051a67236e2c0439a4
View email as a web page

cathalferris

You've unfortunately appeared to have completely missed the point of this issue.

Bike Forums may not have specifically rented, sold, or leased customer information. It just may be that they have either given that information away, or they have had that information released through poor security on the PII stored. No matter how the information got away from the BF servers, it's my PII that is with an unauthorised-by-me unknown third party, being used for unsolicited commercial spam mails. So, this portion of your red highlighting is irrelevant to my complaint. It is irrelevant how my PII got away from you, but it's your fault and definitely your issue to resolve.

On what planet does this "toxic protein" spam constitute a BF newsletter? Certainly not this one. And no, I did not specifically opt-in to anything relating to commercial "promotions" post-GDPR coming onstream, and certainly not this type of "promotion". If you have proof that I did, please show it here..
I honestly expected better from Bike Forums, but here we are still.

This is a BikeForum problem to fix, and I'm following the correct procedure by bringing the GDPR violation to your attention to fix, before I take any further action from my side. I'm not going to actively inform a random third party spam source that my email address is a valid destination for spam email over and above what you lot have already provided. Just make sure that my email address is removed from their DB, and confirm that with me.

As a point of interest, your website is not GDPR compliant either - you have the cookies opt-in by default when it's required to be opt-out by default. I would suggest you fix this before claiming to that you are compliant with the laws.

--------
So, what actions are BikeForums going to take to resolve this security and GDPR issue that you have again been notified about?

unterhausen

Did you see my post #14?
And my previous post as well?
There is no security issue. All the emails are generated by the forum. The unsubscribe is handled by the forum. If your email had escaped into the wild, I assure you that you would be seeing many more spam emails.

What you are doing is the equivalent of yelling at the cashier in a convenience store because they don't have your favorite variety of Clif Bars. It's getting you nowhere and annoys people.

We have been told that they are confident about their GPDR compliance so posting about it here isn't going to get you anywhere. Sorry about that.

Do you really want to take this up as a hobby? Maybe just click the unsubscribe link and never waste any more mental energy on it.

Siu Blue Wind

You will be removed.

veganbikes

Oh I will. You will also get a press conference at the Renaissance Carpet Cleaners (where we planned to have the press conference the entire time and not because we couldn't get the hotel of the same name) by the greatest lawyer of all time Rudolph the Red Nose Giuliani and a 3d hologram of Johnny Cochran doing the moonwalk to a bad cover version of Thriller. Then if that doesn't work take my shirt off, grab the flag of a failed country, put on some viking horns and do a teensy weensy bit of light treason. I studied the best...LOL

Uh oh you tried to make a naughty word...the moderators don't like that

Also what do you mean you don't have the Gingerbread Clif Bars and they are only seasonal. It is the middle of summer and I want my holiday fix!!!!!!!!!

IBJoel

We don't sell anyone's info, all emails are generated by our sales team. As stated, if you click "Remove Me", you'll be removed. I understand people are hesitant to click anything in an off-topic email, but I can confirm that's the quickest wat to do it. If you do have any concerns about an email leak, you posted in the correct forum and we're always listening.
@veganbikes Igbo is a secret?

veganbikes

In a sense to those who would believe any of that conspiracy stuff. It is probably not as well known outside of Nigeria and surrounding areas but I could be wrong. When I searched Nibed on google it came up in Translate as Igbo. So it spiraled from there.