PM300 Spam or Scam?

[NF6X]

I just received an email spam claiming to be from Dave about a discount on his PM300 meter. The headers and URLs look legit, and there's an unsubscribe link pointing at sendy.eevblog.com/unsubscribe/.

Is this legitimate spam, or is some lowlife scammer trying to soil Dave's good name?

[StuUK]

I just received an email spam claiming to be from Dave about a discount on his PM300 meter. The headers and URLs look legit, and there's an unsubscribe link pointing at sendy.eevblog.com/unsubscribe/.

Is this legitimate spam, or is some lowlife scammer trying to soil Dave's good name?

Me too!

[wraper]

And you haven't said from what email address this email was received to begin with.

[NF6X]

And you haven't said from what email address this email was received to begin with.

Sorry about that. The from address is dave@eevblog.com, and Dave replied on Twitter that he sends out marketing offers:

@eevblog: @nf6x I send occasional discount offers to my Newsletter list and Patrons.
Would you have preferred that I posted it as a Patreon post instead?, or not offered to Patrons at all?

https://mobile.twitter.com/eevblog/status/984449810164928513

Maybe I just got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but I hate spam and seeing this in my inbox got me all bent out of shape.

[Iwanushka]

It's legit, Dave sends notifications with discounts from time to time (like once a year) so I wouldn't call it spam

[Shock]

Hover (instead of clicking) your mouse over links to always confirm it's a genuine website domain and URL. It will display the real URL on the mouse pointer or at the bottom of the window. Look close and you will learn to tell the difference between real and fake. The first few forward slashes are often a dead giveaway where the domain name is in the URL.

https://www.eevblog.com/pm300/        (real)
https://www.eevblog.com.malwareforfree.it/pm300/    (fake)
The fake URL is using a subdomain to confuse you

https://sendy.eevblog.com/unsubscribe/    (real)
A legitimate subdomain is fine as long as it proceeds the genuine domain name.

If it's a genuine business you would have obviously contacted them at some point and in most western countries spamming is illegal so the unsubscribe needs to work. After careful examination that the URLs are valid before clicking you can then choose to unsubscribe.

If you don't do business with them and you check it's a spam or deceptive URL ignore or block them and don't click on the links. Easy.

Here is a test, if you think this link is safe go ahead and click it.

[FrankBuss]

I got the eMail twice, maybe Dave should do a SELECT DISTINCT query. Both clicked unsubscribe, problem solved.

[rsjsouza]

Dave's marketing machine sent me about three or four e-mails in the last two years. IMHO I don't think it is enough traffic to be considered spam.

[NF6X]

This is what I had to say in the Patreon poll that Dave created to discuss this topic:

My reason for supporting Dave and others via Patreon, as well as paying for YouTube Red, is to support creators of niche content that I like without having to see any bloody ads. I hate ads. So, when Dave's DMM discount email arrived in my inbox unexpectedly this morning, I was upset. I have no objection at all to there being Patreon supporter perks such as a discount on test equipment. I'd even consider taking advantage of one, if I happened to become aware of it and it appealed to me. But I don't want to have to see ads in my inbox or intruding into content I enjoy, and I don't even like sponsored content from creators I otherwise like. So, I voted "no" here not because I want to deny anybody perks like this, but because I personally hate ads. If I can remain one of Dave's Patreon supporters without having to receive unsolicited ads, then that's great. If I can't, then Patreon just won't be a way for me to support Dave. So my real vote is "None of the above: Do whatever you want, but offer an unsubscribe option." I'll follow up with this in the EEVBlog thread I started, too. Have a nice day, everybody!

[GreyWoolfe]

I got the same email.  I simply deleted it as I wasn't interested in a pocket meter.  I, too, have received several of Dave's emails over the years letting me know of a sale.

[EEVblog]

This is being discussed on Patreon.
Only Patrons and people on my email Newsletter got this.
I presume you are a Patron, if so you'll be able to see the discussion on it.

[EEVblog]

Dave's marketing machine sent me about three or four e-mails in the last two years. IMHO I don't think it is enough traffic to be considered spam.

And you would have only got those emails if you deliberately signed up for the newsletter.

[rsjsouza]

Dave's marketing machine sent me about three or four e-mails in the last two years. IMHO I don't think it is enough traffic to be considered spam.

And you would have only got those emails if you deliberately signed up for the newsletter.

Yes, you are correct. I vaguely recall asking to be added to a newsletter of sorts.