Friday, March 28, 2008

The Dead Letter Office

There is actually an internet version:

When businesses want to communicate with their customers via e-mail, many send messages with a bogus return address, e.g. "somethinghere@donotreply.com." The practice is meant to communicate to recipients that any replies will go unread.

But when those messages are sent to an inactive e-mail address or the recipient ignores the instruction and replies anyway, the missives don't just disappear into the digital ether.

Instead, they land in Chet Faliszek's e-mail box.

As owner of www.donotreply.com, the Seattle-based programmer receives millions of wayward e-mails each week, including a great many missives destined for executives at Fortune 500 companies or bank customers, even sensitive messages sent by government personnel and contractors.

Read the rest here.

Pilfered from Consumerist

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1 comment:

The Swindle said...

Good to know. I was completely unaware of this and had never thought about this. The Consumerist strikes gold again. Thanks for the article!