Lately I’ve been getting invites to a new social network called Quechup. I’m already a member of too many social networks, so to be honest I’ve ignored these requests. But it seems Quechup has been automatically sending out invites, without the knowledge or consent of the people signing up. I got this email today from someone I know:
Title: Please ignore any Quechup.com Invites – It’s a spam engine
Message: I am writing this with profound embarrassment.
I was recently tricked by a spam engine posing as a new social network. I got an invite from someone I knew and trusted, signed up to see what was about. Two days later, Quechup sent out SPAM to my entire address book.
Please ignore or delete all emails claiming to be from me that mention a site called Quechup.com.
Please also accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
I won’t mention the name of the person who sent this message, because it isn’t their fault. Clearly Quechup has broken the golden rule of social networks and abused the trust of their users. Quechup’s tagline is “the social networking platform sweeping the globe” – however it seems to be doing that via an email spam campaign.
Our recommendation: stay away from Quechup. You may also adopt my own current rule and not sign up to new social networks unless there’s a clear – and new, unique – benefit to you. After all, how many social networks do you need?