I suspect this student is being a little paranoid. A regular "Spam scam" is
to offer to sell worthless papers purporting to be degrees.
In order to respond professionally I would suggest the following course of
action:
1) refer the student to your Privacy Policy and explain that any breaches
are taken seriously leading to disciplinary issues against individuals
breaking it (if this is the case, of course). Do mention 2002/58/EC here.
2) let them know that, in general, this is a "spam scam" and it is likely
that even their email address was guessed by the sender.
3) offer to inspect a very small selection of the emails they are receiving
if they provide full email headers
4) suggest that they may wish to be more selective about opening emails
from total strangers (which these usually are)
5) tell them how to complain to the UKIC, but remind them that his
jurisdiction is only over UCE originating in the UK
Record that you have made this response in the student's own correspondence
file and await a reply.
Tim Trent - Consultant
Direct: +44(0)1344 392644 Mobile:+44(0)7710 126618
email: [log in to unmask]
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Marketing Improvement Limited, Abbey House, Grenville Place, Bracknell,
United Kingdom, RG12 1BP
http://www.marketingimprovement.com <http://www.marketingimprovement.com>
This message is for the intended addressee's use only. It may contain
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-----Original Message-----
From: This list is for those interested in Data Protection issues
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of J.Barrett-Murrer
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2004 9:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [data-protection] unsolicited emails
We have received the following email from a student who wants to know how
these companies obtained details of his studies. We are positive that they
did not obtain his details from us.
Has anyone else come across this problem and know how these companies
obtained the data?
'Since getting the credits for my degree I have received a number of
e-mail's offering me MA or Phd qualifications. Doing some checking on
telephone numbers I find that these e-mail are from the USA and I view them
as very dodgy...
I have one question since I have not yet accepted my degree how did
these people get the information I have a degree?
I was under the impression that the data held by the OU was secure.
This would appear not to be the case. A second question occurs to me ...
how do
I stop these mails?'
Thanks Janice
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