Just got this email: [INVOICE #095] PAYMENT OWED: $1,997!

Haven't you heard about the virus's etc. that can be downloaded embedded in or attached to spam emails? I'm much happier deleting this type of email at the source rather than run the risk of actually downloading it into my computer, then finding out too late it brought something rather nasty with it. :rolleyes:

I know many savvy people who have downloaded emails indiscriminately, only to discover too late their computer has become infected with an attachment. And yes, they do have good anti-spam and anti-virus systems on their computers.

BTW, when I first bought Mailwasher years ago, it was just a few $$. I consider it to be excellent value, even at today's price.

Mailwasher made a lot more sense back when access was dial-up and modems were very slow. A lot of access providers charged by the hour, so avoiding a 30-60 minute file dwnload from a spammer saved money.

So it made sense to do as much 'mail washing' on the server as possible, to lower the number of hours spent connected and only download the email you wanted.

Which is why what you (and others) experienced is deeply lamentable. As I mentioned previously, I'm glad you started this thread. And I was gratified to learn as the thread developed that you voted with your feet.

IMers should not make excuses for well-known or celebrity marketers behaving badly, should not burden their minds by struggling to find ways to rationalize this fantastically damaging conduct, should not assign a scintilla of value to any "testing" explanation that may emerge and should not take this crap; it is a hideous and deceptive practice that only serves to reinforce the worst negative stereotypes.

The more confident IMers should consider writing about it on their Blogs in a post that has nothing to do with sales -- and continue to complain about it on forums.

This is important and cannot be stressed enough: Not only did the deceptive subject line falsely claim a payment of $1,997 was owed, it also referenced a specific, fictitious invoice number. In the case of this particular email, there were two lies contained within only 5 short words, making it a remarkably efficient whopper.

[INVOICE #095] PAYMENT OWED: $1,997

Think about it: Fewer than a half-dozen words were needed to carry not one, but two lies. It's another black day for marketing science.

That the email was from a purported IM "coach" makes the irony both bitter and pungent, an irony that may be lost on noobs but will strike vets who've been railing about this sh** for years like a dagger in the heart.

Now, imagine you're the supportive wife of a hardworking noob who's lost the breadwinning traditional job, lives in an area of high unemployment and is struggling to supplement the family income through IM because the part-time, minimum-wage job he's found 36-miles away barely feeds the family and keeps the lights and heat on.

The wife, pretending she is chipper when her soul is on fire from worry, asks the husband what happened on the IM front today.

"Well," the husband begins, "we got a bill for $1,997."

"What!" the alarmed wife responds. "I picked up the mail today. There was no bill in it like that."

"Came by email," the husband explains.

"From who!" the wife demands.

"From the man I thought I could learn about IM from."

"We owe this guy $2,000? For what!"

"Well, we don't actually owe the money. But I thought we did for a while."

"We got a bill for $2,000 from an Internet Marketer, but we don't owe the money? I'm confused."

"It was a trick to get me to open his email."

"That's a pretty dirty trick," the wife says. "Is that what they teach?"

"Seems so," the embarrassed husband laments. "And it seems that the science of Internet Marketing has been reduced to such a point that it is now possible to tell two written lies using only five words. You lie to people and alarm them so they'll open your emails, and then you tell them that they don't really owe you two grand. You're supposed to see the beauty of it -- and be happy to discover you don't really owe the money."

"Did you tell him not to mess with your family that way?"

"No," the husband answers. "I just filed a report with the Better Business Bureau and got off the guy's list."

"Good idea about the BBB, Honey," the wife says. "What's a list?"

"A list consists of the names and email addresses of people who've expressed an interest in doing business with you and learning from you. The people over at the Warrior Forum tell me it's the most valuable asset a marketer can have."

"Then why would people lie to their lists?"

"Beats me, Babe. But he ain't gonna lie to us again, especially when your due date is only six weeks away and we haven't paid any of the doctor's bills this month -- and this IM jerk made me believe we owed him $2,000 to boot. I put in an application at Walmart after I called the BBB; I don't think IM can work, not with this nonsense. I can't believe anybody now."

"Two part time jobs now, Honey?"

"Until we get back on our feet. And I hate thinking that we've been putting off talking about getting the braces Junior needs until after the baby is born."

Patrick

I have GMail so I can see a preview of the email regardless of the headline to see if I want to check further.

I don't either. The email they go to aren't my main emails so I check them whenever. So I bet if it were something I were truly interested in I betcha it'll STILL be available when I get around to it :p