Damart email scam, or suspect way of obtaining personal details?

showmethemoneyuk

I have recently received an email from Damart, stating their thanks for items I have supposedly purchased. At first I believed this to just be an obvious scam and it was deleted. I had not made an online order of any kind, and my bank account has showed no recent related activity.

The second email from Damart stated similar information for a seperate order, listing no actual items, just a thank you and a specified amount paid. What was alarming was that although the email was sent to me as before, my full name was included with an elderly relatives home address as to where the items would be sent.

Neither myself or the relative have ever had an account with Damart, online or off. I have written an email to Damart, asking if this was likely spam, or if an error, where they may have obtained these details, but after reading the various posts via Google and MSE on how Damart may prey on the elderly to obtain details or make purchases, I am now questioning as to whether I made a wrong move. I have essentially now confirmed the address included in the suspect mail, and they may use this to track down the home phone number of my relation (which is public in the phone book) and attempt to constantly market to them.

Can anyone confirm whether these emails are common as spam? I clicked on the email in sandboxie and it does indeed take me to the official Damart website. I suppose if no bank activity shows for anyone's account all I can really do is give note to my relation (which I have already done) but I will always wonder how they received my full name and the relations home address. Thanks for any info.

forgotmyname

Who knows your name and email address? This is why i create unique email address for sites i suspect that may abuse the details.

I will create myemailaddress1@yahoo and give it to say this site. then myemailaddress1@gmail to the next site then move on upto 2, 3,4 etc etc etc.

So only 1 or 2 sites get the same email address. Add to the fact i use fake names for most sites.
Lost count of the number of accounts google have banned me from. Do i trust google with my details.. I would rather give my card and bank details to a nigerian scammer than google.

Does your relation know your email address?

hollydays

I had dealings with them on behalf of a neighbour, and made my very first post on here a long time ago.
It was then I realised how disreputable they are.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/149570


More recently there's this
http://www.decisionmarketing.co.uk/news/damart-mailer-frozen-out-by-asa

showmethemoneyuk

There is of course a chance my relation may just be forgetful and have dealt with them after all by post or phone, but I have definitely never purchased on their behalf. My relative is not computer savvy and does not know my email. That's a good point about having an obvious email, although mine does not include my full name. I may opt for a different one in future just for online purchasing if I receive more hassle or too much in the way of marketing.

I am sure if Damart do reply they will certainly not be likely to state how my email was linked to my relations address, if it involved the buying and sharing of details. Damart seems to only sell items for a specific age range, but.. a company trying to create a family tree of details or connected friends to sell on? Perhaps that's a little far fetched, I don't know.

That's not to say that I have not purchased anything for my relation online anywhere else before. Perhaps it can all be traced back to the company I last bought items for them from, ie the store that may have sold these details on to Damart. Aside from Amazon and eBay I do not purchase much online, although I have used clothing stores such as M&S, and supermarkets such as Asda before. That's about it.To be honest living in a decade of cold calling, I personally don't think there are any companies out there you can really trust in not selling on information these days, online or off. Thanks for the replies