Mr Daz

One of the many websites that I administer is the very popular (or unpopular, depending on your stance) advice website CSAhelll.com. The website features daily stories from parents, both mothers and fathers, who are tearing their hair out due to the incompetencies, errors and bullying tactics at the hands of the Child Support Agency.

One post the site had recently was particularly funny because the woman who posted it came back a few days later, after receiving advice and comments to her post, wondering how her story had wound up on the website in the first place. This woman’s story (which I won’t link to) was sent in to the website by the aforementioned woman using the contact form on the website, yet she was dumbfounded as to how we received her information and were able to post it.

Had there been some sort of security leak at the CSA itself, you may ask? This wouldn’t have been uncommon, seeing as their data is hardly secure anyway. They once posted a woman’s bank details to me by mistake, after printing them out and leaving them on the printer for some idiot to pick up and shove in a letter bound for my address. They have also famously lost data, and had staff sacked for accessing adult websites and material online using supposedly secure computers; their information security is basically a mess, something which I personally told their head of security, Bernard Devaney, when I last spoke to him in reference to the CSA staff member who tried to coerce fathers into killing themselves via Facebook. He agreed, although couldn’t go into detail.

However, this time the error wasn’t the agency’s, not that they couldn’t do without recruiting a few more people to information security jobs anyway. No, this error was the fault of the woman who rather stupidly pasted her entire story into the CSAhell.com website thinking she was contacting the CSA and, even when she returned to the website to retrieve her feedback didn’t remember being there in the first place.

No wonder her life’s in a mess.

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Tags: CSA, Internet by MrDaz
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In another exposé of companies using black hat link building tactics, it is with some relish that I can now offer up a supposed SEO company based in Cheshire using spam comments to build links for their own website.

On the network of blogs that I run I get hundreds of comments each day, and companies that employ spam link builders to post nonsense, badly written comments in an effort to build links to their website are like a red rag to me. This latest company is a Cheshire based firm offering web design and ‘white hat’ SEO services. Obviously their SEO services aren’t quite as white hat as they claim, if the following blog comment is anything to go by:

Name: cheshire web design
Website: you-media.co.uk
Email: nicoleglass99@yahoo.co.uk
IP Addfress: 112.202.13.122
Date: Submitted on 2011/11/16 at 8:31 am

I differ with a lot of individuals right here; I ran across this web site submit We couldn’t leave right up until I completed, though it wasn’t precisely what I had been searching for, had been a great go through however. Let me instantaneously get the weblog supply to remain in effect of the improvements.

The name for the comment was ‘cheshire web design’, the keyword for which they’re trying to rank, and the email address used is a disposable Yahoo email (probably created by a foreign ‘link builder’). The comment itself is gibberish, and has probably been run through spinning software, translation software or just crafted by someone with a passing knowledge of English. Indeed, if you simply Google the first line of the comment you’ll see a number of examples where this dross has been published, linking to other websites that have also used the same link building company.

Rather that create quality back links for them, this gibberish has merely served to expose the black hat SEO tactics they employ, and the fact that they evidently use foreign suppliers for their link building (or they employ link builders who really cannot write intelligibly).

Good work You Media, your ‘white hat’ SEO skills are indeed impressive.

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Tags: Internet, SEO by MrDaz
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Over the years I have dealt with a number of different recruitment agencies with differing results (I don’t think BD Recruitment will forget their mistake a few years ago) but one thing that has consistently annoyed me is the way recruitment consultants with whom you have had no dealings persist in contacting you, even after you have asked them not to.

One such recruitment consultant is Jonathan Howson at Evolution Recruitment. I have never spoken to Jonathan, nor have I had any dealings with Evolution Recruitment, yet, for some reason, I cannot stop this man from trying to contact me offering me various jobs around the country.

I have been bombarded by emails, as is normal, from Jonathan Howson and have deleted each one without giving a second thought. However, he hasn’t stopped there; Jonathan is also bombarding me with text messages about random jobs, even though I have replied and asked him to stop.

I have also tweeted at Jonathan and Evolution Recruitment asking them to stop, but still I keep getting these texts and emails. It is annoying, it is unsolicited and it has been requested that he stops… but still he continues. He’s like the Terminator in the sense that he cannot be reasoned with but, unlike the Terminator, he’s just trying to earn some commission for sending candidates to job interviews and, in my case, job interviews I’m really not interested in at all.

So, if either Jonathan Howson or Evolution Recruitment are reading this (as I’m sure you will be) please stop emailing and texting me. It’s seriously getting on my nerves… and getting on my nerves, while quite easy, isn’t a good idea.

If anyone is interested, the number used for these unsolicited spam texts is 07515 522 056 and the email is jonathan.howson@evolutionjobs.co.uk.

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Tags: Complaints, Internet, Rants by MrDaz
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Since writing this post about spam comments being used to create backlinks, I seem to have been inundated with the crap. I’ve literally had it up to here (for the benefit of readers, my hand is around my forehead right now) with badly written garbled spam comments being added by black hat link builders ‘attempting’ to benefit their clueless clients… therefore I’ll be exposing the muppets regularly.

This latest shit awful comment written by some pigeon English brandishing halfwit is for a website selling scooters. So, Dave’s Scooters, whoever you’ve hired to do your link building I’d suggest you sack them, it hasn’t really worked.

Author : scooters (IP: 84.241.194.168 , 84.241.194.168) E-mail : ObermanQuispe434@hotmail.com
URL    : http://www.davesscootershop.nl
Whois  : http://whois.arin.net/rest/ip/84.241.194.168
Comment:
Great post, very informative. I’m wondering why the other experts of this sector don’t notice this. You should proceed your writing. I’m sure, you have a huge readers’ base already!|What’s Going down i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to contribute & help different users like its helped me. Great job.

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Tags: Complaints, Internet, SEO by MrDaz
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Time for some blatant plugging; there has to be some benefit to running this website.

At StuckOn, based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire (just round the corner from Cheshire Oaks) we’re looking for a web designer to join our team. We’re an SEO agency, but we also do a lot of website design. You can see our web design portfolio here for the sorts of sites we’ve built and the types of industries in which we work.

We’re looking for someone creative, although you don’t necessarily need to have worked professionally as a web designer, or have any formal qualifications in web design. We just want someone who has a genuine passion for web design and is in the Ellesmere Port/Liverpool area.

So, if you’re a keen web designer, or even someone with an interest in getting into website design, and you live in Ellesmere Port, or somewhere near (such as Liverpool, Chester or on the Wirral) then we’d like to hear from you at StuckOn.

Have a look at the job spec here and, if you’re interested in applying, fill in the contact form and send us your CV, together with some examples of your URLs. We’re looking to interview our first candidates next week, so you’ll need to act fast if you want to apply for this web design position.

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I’ve written before about badly written spam, such as in this case with comment spam, and how it beggars belief that people obviously spend copious amounts of time and money spreading this crap around the Internet, that it seemed only fair that I applaud spam as well.

I’ve just received some of the best written spam I’ve ever had, this time for Co-Op Bank (who I’m not actually with). The email was very well formatted, and very well written. It has obviously been proof-read (which a lot of spam emails haven’t) and has been constructed by someone who understands the English language. In fact, if it weren’t the fact that the links go to valbis.com instead of the Co-Op, and that I’m not actually with the Co-Op, I may have fallen for this one.

Well ok, I wouldn’t have actually fallen for it, but I bet a lot of people will. Well played lads, that’s some good spam.

Here is the spam email in full, in case you received it yourself and weren’t sure…

From: The Co-operative Bank [mailto:notice.hl43@operative.co.uk]
Sent: 31 October 2011 14:34
Subject: New message-Secure Activation Confirmation.

Dear Customer,

This message confirms your activation of the The Co-operative Bank Online Secure Service on October 31, 2011 13:11:20(GMT). This service provides added safety when you shop online and is offered to you free of charge.

Please click on the following link.

Confirm your details

From now on, when shopping online at participating merchants or logging in to your Personal Account Manager, you will be prompted to enter random sequential characters from your password you created during the service activation. Please keep your password secret as you will need it for future purchases.

Please personalise your Co-operative Bank Secure account as soon as you can. When personalising your account, you will be able to select your own Personal Message and update your email address.
Access Co-operative Bank Secure

Additionally, at this site you will find more information regarding the service and participating merchants.

Alternatively if you have any questions or problems regarding registration, logging in, or shopping with NatWest Secure, we are here to help. Call us on 0875 212 212 or Textphone 0875 213 213. You can always visit the The Co-operative Bank Online Service site for further information.

The Co-operative Bank Secure password protection applies to all cardholders on the account. If this account has an additional cardholder, they should activate the service by visiting the above Secure site.

This is an outbound message only. Please do not reply. Calls may be recorded. Maximum call charge from a BT landline is 8p per minute. Calls from other networks may vary.

Your Bank and the Police will never contact you to ask you to disclose your online banking or payment card PIN’s, or your password information.

Thank you.
The Co-operative Bank Customer Service Centre

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Tags: Internet by MrDaz
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Being someone who runs, shall we say, a fair number of blogs, I get one or two spam comments posted on different websites from people looking to ‘build links’ for SEO. Some of these comments are well written, and reference the blog itself, whereas some are just utter rubbish, written either by automated systems or by people who have only a passing familiarity with the English language.

Now, while it’s very easy for me to identify which comments are genuine and which are posted purely for SEO purposes, it is interesting to see which companies and websites employ SEO companies that use these black hat, spam tactics.

So, here are a couple of the best spam comments I have received lately, complete with the emails of the ‘people’ who left them, and the websites who have been using dodgy SEO link building techniques.

Posted by: mark clayson
URL: markclaysoncomputers.com
Email: VercherArrollo90@gmail.com
IP: 217.219.115.133
Submitted on 2011/10/05 at 10:07 pm

Hi my loved one! I want to say that this article is amazing, great written and come with approximately all vital infos. I?d like to look extra posts like this .

I’m willing to guess that ‘Mark Clayson’ didn’t post this himself, as the English is so poor it’s clearly not from someone who has English as a first language. The email address used, a disposable Gmail address, is a clear giveaway that the poster is in the habit of posting bulk comments and isn’t actually Mark Clayson.

Posted by: language blog, job market, bilingual jobs, multilingual jobs, expat employees, language jobs, blog
URL: blog.toplanguagejobs.com
Email: VerenChronister3005@gnumail.com
IP: 89.175.182.190
Submitted on 2011/10/06 at 12:11 pm

Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all people you actually recognise what you are speaking approximately! Bookmarked. Kindly also consult with my website =). We can have a link change arrangement among us

This meaningless drivel was posted on the same day, using a very similar email address format. What I like about this comment is that it’s absolute garbage, making no sense, yet is promoting a website offering ‘language jobs’. What a cracking advert for the website! I bet the marketing department at toplanguagejobs.com will be thrilled to have their website and brand associated with this kind of crap.

Building links for SEO is important, but not as important as building them properly. If you employ an SEO company or link builder that uses link building techniques such as this you’ll end up with some seriously poor quality links, and your brand damaged by the nature of the links – and you might end up as the subject of a blog on MrDaz.com, which is far worse!

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I recently purchased four memory foam pillows on Groupon from the company ‘Clouds Memory Foam’. The Groupon offer gave a great discount by offering 4 pillows for £55, instead of £239.96 – with just a £4.99 delivery charge (as you can see from the link).

However, when I came to place the order the delivery charge was £10 – not £4.99. As you only have a limited time to redeem your Groupon vouchers I had little choice but to pay the £10 and quibble about it later.

Knowing Groupon as I do (I’ve never had a transaction go without a hitch of some kind) I tweeted them immediately about the issue, and received an instant response saying to email their UK support team, which I did.

However – I received the following reply from Groupon’s email support:

Pal, Sep-27 00:05 (BST):
Hi Darren,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear that you were charged £10.00 delivery fee for your Clouds Memory Foam Pillows.
I have checked our system and cannot find any other customers being charged this amount.
Please find below the contact number for the partner, to request a refund for this fee:
Phone Numbers: (+44) 203 086 7423 & (+44) 207 760 7562
Email: contact@cloudsmemoryfoam.com
Also did you follow the below procedure to place your order:
- Go to www.cloudsmemoryfoam.co.uk/bedding/pillows-3/super-deluxe-memory-foam-pillow-1
- In the checkout, enter your voucher codes
- Have your credit/debit card details ready to pay the £4.99 postage

It was the ‘I have checked our system and cannot find any other customers being charged this amount’ that interested me, as this means they have checked, and nobody else has been charged £10 for delivery – except of course that they have, and Groupon has lied. Not only has Groupon lied about this, they have knowingly attempted to deceive as they have indeed checked, and have sent me exactly the same email as someone else has already received – so they looked up the problem, found someone else had reported the same problem, saw the email they had already sent to them, and then forwarded it to me.

Pal, Sep-26 23:27 (BST):
Hi Lianne,
Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear that you were charged £10.00 delivery fee for your Clouds Memory Foam Pillows.
I have checked our system and cannot find any other customers being charged this amount.
Please find below the contact number for the partner, to request a refund for this fee:
Phone Numbers: (+44) 203 086 7423 & (+44) 207 760 7562
Email: contact@cloudsmemoryfoam.com
Also did you follow the below procedure to place your order:
- Go to www.cloudsmemoryfoam.co.uk/bedding/pillows-3/super-deluxe-memory-foam-pillow-1
- In the checkout, enter your voucher codes
- Have your credit/debit card details ready to pay the £4.99 postage

How disgusting is that? They must have known for a fact that someone else had been charged the £10 in order to send me the exact same email. Groupon clearly can’t be trusted. Mistakes happen, that’s a fact of life. When a website becomes as successful as Groupon has become these mistakes will be more frequent, but it’s how you deal with these mistakes that sets you apart – and to knowingly lie to customers marks you out as a company that simply cannot be trusted.

I wonder what Groupon will come back with now, following this response:

That’s funny, because someone else has received this exact same email from you (GroupOn code error (ticket #906501)).

Seems you’re lying through your arse on this one. How many people have you sent this exact same email to, claiming nobody else has been charged £10?

This is a disgraceful lie that has been found out. I suggest you tread very carefully with the way you reply to this.

I await the next chapter with bated breath.

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Tags: Complaints, Internet, Rants by MrDaz
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