GMAIL - Guilty of assiting spam emailers?

I have been noticing a trend lately with my GMAIL. I would be interested in knowing if there is some substance to what i am seeing.

It happened again a few minutes again. I send and receive a relatively large amount of email. However, not too long after i have sent an email i get a spam email with SOMETHING to do with a word in the body of my mail OR in the subject of my mail.

I sent mail to my wife about a watch i wanted and WALA, 2 minutes later i get a spam mail about replica watches. Today a friend was mailing me about her weight loss, WALA, an email about FAT burning... those are JUST 2 examples and it is regular. It doesn't matter if i send or receive a mail - invariably i will get spam mail with something on the subject of my mail sent or received OR to do with a word from the email.

Anyone else experiencing this? Yeah yeah yeah coincidence WITHIN reason BUT this is beyond reason. It is just to "normal"...

EDIT to add:
YEAH i KNOW it is free and i don't have to use GMAIL. But i hope you get the point before raising something I already covered.

[edit on 8/7/2008 by shearder]

i have been using gmail for about 6 months, and i dont recall any spammail in my box, maybe im just lucky you could try a few test mails to see if you get more spammails with the same "topic" as the mail you just wrote.

reply to post by Kalomar


I have been using GMAIL since 2005. It is only in the last few months that this is happening and it has just now being noticeable - what i was talking about. It goes directly to my spam mail box not my in box but is still received by me.

Gmail has the best spam trap in the world, in my experience. Not even a single spam message has escaped it for me.

However, Gmail does read all messages and shows the relevant ads based on the keyword in the mail. But its unlikely that they'd send a spam mail on the same keyword, because they have already shown you an ad and a link on that keyword.

I guess, you have a spyware which is reading everything you type and sends you mail based on that. Or simply, its a coincidence that it happened.

Originally posted by rocksolidbrain
Gmail has the best spam trap in the world, in my experience. Not even a single spam message has escaped it for me.

Yes they do. I still get at least 30-40 spam mails a day in my SPAM mail box NOT my in box. So, yes, it is labeled as SPAM but it is still delivered.

However, Gmail does read all messages and shows the relevant ads based on the keyword in the mail.

Correct. This is usual and has been so for the past 3 years - as long as i have used it.

But its unlikely that they'd send a spam mail on the same keyword, because they have already shown you an ad and a link on that keyword.

I am not saying GMAIL is sending the SPAM. Not at all. In the same way the advertise based on keywords in your emails could be, IMO, the same way they "trigger" a 3rd party to send emails for teaching degrees, weight loss, replica watches etc etc. Possible, YEP.

I guess, you have a spyware which is reading everything you type and sends you mail based on that. Or simply, its a coincidence that it happened.

Coincidence at times is a realty - it would happen. Spyware that works with GMAIL? I doubt it - possible? Yes. Likely, nope.

I am not trying to prove they, GMAIL, are responsible or that they ARE doing this - i am putting it out there based on my experience lately - and considering advertising is done on what is in your emails someone at GMAIL may be in on this and possibly getting paid NOT GMAIL themselves, also, something is reading our emails - obviously. WRONG? Hell yeah!! Can we stop it? I doubt it - GMAIL is free so they will use whatever info they can gather from your emails to make more and more via 1 - advertising

See what i am saying?

OK there is definately some truth to what i am saying.
My wife's name is Glenda. Now to cut a long story short, 2 days ago i got a spam mail saying "Wouldn't you like to live in Glenda"! Glenda?

Ok so yesterday i get another mail, consider that i use this address to mail my wife etc, the Subject of the email is: "X-Ray Technicians are in demand Glenda" copied absolutely the domain it came from is drinktaster.com

So, there IS susbstance to what i am saying!! Regardless of the advertising, email spam IS BEING assisted by GMAIL!! Ok, yeah, so they put the spam mail in yuor SPAM box BUT how is it then possible after sending mails to my wife i get 2 back with her name in the subject line?

Makes you think hey. So what ELSE is gmail doing with your email??

Just to add, i am sure those who know me will back me up when i say i am not one to cry wolf and i will do the necessary investigation to try and prove MYSELF wrong but so far, i am right!!

Gmail is Google mail, right? Google stores your searches for decades and that's a fact. So would it really surprise you if they used the content of your own email to try and keep their stock above $500? Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if they kept the content of your email for decades as well, as is rumored.

I'm surprised anyone on ATS would even use gmail as their privacy policy is wellknown to be more full of holes than the average free email providers'.

Wikipedia says that it is indeed a policy to scan emails and use the content to generate targeted advertising.

wiki

I have noticed spam emails in GMail using my name in the title of the message, but I have also noticed it using other names I have used online, they might have been found together I suppose.

I must admit it sounds strange to me to have fantastic anti-spam built in and to then also send spam, I get lots of spam but never in my inbox so I never notice it, I cant see why Google would do this or what they would have to gain.

[edit on 10-7-2008 by CuriosityStrikes]

reply to post by sc2099


The reason i use it is for convenience. That's about it. I also have a work email but that i use just for work.

Thanks for the link. I read it. So it actually reinforces my point LOL - so i am not losing it after all!!

Originally posted by CuriosityStrikes
I get lots of spam but never in my inbox so I never notice it, I cant see why Google would do this or what they would have to gain.

Yeah, it is usually never in my inbox BUT i do get spam from time to time in my inbox. At least 1 mail out of 100 spams gets through.

Yesterday i had a mail from a Doctor of some sort offering UPTO $7500 to recover bad debts for him - earning you 10% of the recovered monies.

This went to my inbox!!

Perhaps Google is selling out to the government and info mining!! Another company selling out!!

Originally posted by CuriosityStrikes
I cant see why Google would do this or what they would have to gain.

[edit on 10-7-2008 by CuriosityStrikes]

Uh...money? For some crazy reason people still click on those things, despite the fact that their privacy has been invaded, so clearly those advertising dollars paid to Google are paying off.

To shearder: Haha, no you're definitely not losing it. I just wouldn't send any emails with private info using that account.

That's interesting....I've been using gmail for several months now and I have 1 message marked as spam in my mailbox. I also don't have the adverts that I used to see down the right side of the screen. Wonder what's different?

[edit on 10-7-2008 by MrPenny]

reply to post by sc2099

The quote you have taken from me is slightly out of context, to rephrase my question I could ask who would pay Google to get information that only results in targeted adverts being sent to spam boxes.

It has been said that some does slip through, 1 in 100 in fact, I'm glad its not 1 in 100 for me hehe as I would have hundreds a week.



There is another point I would like to raise, I have another private GMail account that I have never used to register anywhere and never put it on a public page but do use it to send emails to clients, I have never got a single spam message in here even though I use it a lot.

Please don't get me wrong the OP has posted something very interesting and if it is true that they are using the content of our emails in this manner then its reasonably serious.

[edit on 10-7-2008 by CuriosityStrikes]

yea.. I thought I was the only one that this was happening to! Whew! Anyways.. I did some snooping around google's T&C doc and think I remember that in there you 'agree' that they can snoop (for lack of a better word) your mail in the subject or mail because they're providing you with companies to assist you perhaps finding a better product.. or something like that..

I BARELY touch my yahoo acct for the same reasons..

PLEASE.. if someone on ATS knows of a free webmail and/or standalone email that DOES NOT advertise anything.. is REALLY secure (as the law allows) send me a U2U would ya.. cuz .. personally.. i'm sick of gmail sniffing my email..

thx all..

reply to post by CuriosityStrikes


Oh ok, I gotcha. I misunderstood what you were saying, haha. Yes, it doesn't make as much sense if the ads are going straight to the junk folder. However, if one in 100 gets into your inbox, and they send thousands to millions of people, it really does add up. Especially since the cost of sending so much is probably negligible.

reply to post by MrPenny


Yeah good question - what is different? I always have adds up the right side - i guess their earning methods - amongst other methods