Register a domain - get spam?

[Air]

The other day I was registering some domains, for each one an email followed, it addressed me by name and said --

Dear so-and-so,

You got the email because you had an interest in registering
domain names. This quality site should be very useful to you.
It charges only $15.00 for each domain name registration per
year. You can also transfer your existing domains at $15 for
one year. No other strings attached.

[what-looks-like-an-affiliate-url...]

I am just trying to help out as an associate.
Wish you the success with your domains and business.

[Name Removed]

The only way they could get the name used is from the secure order form, which is very weird, anyone else seeing this with recent registrations. I'm trying to figure out if it is related to the particular registrar I used or if it happens with others as well.

[toolman]

Is that an affiliated company of the company you signed up with that perhaps you gave permission to be spammed in the fine print?

I get stuff for the domains I have at NS but generally not from the others anymore.

[Air]

No, that's what is weird about it IMO, it's a competing offer.

[evinrude]

I got an identical email to this one after setting up a domain transfer last week. Word for word identical.

[bartek]

I got the same message; they used the proper first and last name - that could only come from the secure form. Wonder what happened to the cc # and how much more spam we'll get...

[littleman]

I got the same message today regarding a NS domain I recently made a change with. The url (an ip number + quarry string) was bad.

[Air]

Yeah the URL didn't resolve in the E I got either, obviously the same one. I've written to the registrar to see if they have any ideas.

[Air]

This is the note that went to the registrar:

Hello,

The other day I was registering some domains, for each one an email followed, it addressed me by name and said --

<included e-mail as in original post>

The only way they could get the name used is from the secure order form, which is very weird, any idea how this is happening? Sorry I deleted the original e-mail (the url did not resolve anyway) The above is the e-mail verbatim, except I removed my name, the URL, and the sig, so that I could post it in a forum to get an idea how many others were getting a similar e-mail when registering or transfering domains.

A number of people reported the exact same e-mail was sent to them (I assume using various registrars) I did not mention you as the registrar, and no-one else mentioned their registrar either. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks for your response.

[Air]

This is the response from the registrar:

There is no way they can get the information from the secure site. However
we have heard similar stories. I will not mention the company name right
now - it is under investigation.

Please forward us the original email. We will investigate this. Also,
please let me know the name of the forum so we can gather some more
information.

[snip]

[bhartzer]

What's even more weird is that not only do you get spammed by email when you buy a new domain, you get spammed via USPS snail mail too! There are hosting companies and other companies that send out all sorts of junk. I'm sure that they've bought some sort of list from the registrar.

[willtell]

With the competition so heavy in the world of domain registration, it would seem reasonable that they are selling that information. Companies can say anything they want, but the information they collect is valuable. I don't know if this is the case here, so this is just my oninion.
When you use onine services, without knowing the company, you always take a chance on having information sold.
I just ordered a new magazine the other day and asked if the information I provided would be sold. they said yes, unless I asked them not to.
This happens all the time, which is why the Internet makes it is very difficult to know who you are dealing with.