Another Illegitimate Dishonest SEO Person

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You know, I don’t really like outing people. In fact, I admire people that go an extra mile in order to try to provide a valuable service – even new people or new businesses. If they are legitimate. Unfortunately, there are so many so called SEO specialists and businesses cropping up that obviously have very little experience (maybe they just took a 9.99 course on SEO or something that teaches a bunch of crap), and they are sending you emails and making absurd claims and actually are lying!

Here’s an email I received this evening – normally I don’t respond, but you can read my response below:

Return-path: <[email protected]>

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Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2012 07:12:49 +0530

Message-ID: <CAGniimrPW06Ub39tCnoJ04_R0q8q=CNWjyhVjt_F=ixD0Gtesw@mail.gmail.com>

Subject: Organic SEO – About-Flyfishing.com

From: Maria Wilson <[email protected]>

To: [email protected]

Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

boundary=047d7b10c843f2f0d904ba9d4632

Status: R

X-Status: N

X-KMail-EncryptionState:

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–047d7b10c843f2f0d904ba9d4632

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

About-Flyfishing.com Team,

I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not getting enough Social Media and Organic search engine traffic for About-Flyfishing.com

1.Your website About-Flyfishing.com is not ranking top in Google organic search for many competitive keyword phrases.

2. Your website profile is not available in most of the Social Media Websites.

3. Your site has 16 Google back links, this can be improved further.

There are many additional improvements that could be made to your website, and if you would like to learn about them, and are curious to know what our working together would involve, then I would be glad to provide you with a detailed analysis in the form of a *WEBSITE AUDIT REPORT for FREE*.

Our clients consistently tell us that their customers find them because they are at the top of the Google search rankings. Being at the top left of Google (#1- #3 organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s website traffic and online reputation.

Sounds interesting? Feel free to email us or alternatively you can provide me with your phone number and the best time to call you.

—————————————————————–

Best Regards,

*Maria Wilson*

*SEO Consultant*

(301) 859-4332

——————————————————————

PS1*: This is onetime email and you may ask us to REMOVE you from our mailing list.

*PS2*: I found your site from online advertising but did not click.

*PS3*: We operate 24 x7. I will be happy to send y  weare different from others?, and Why should you choose us? on receiving a response from you.

 

Here’s my response to Maria Wilson:

You are a liar. I am going to expose your lies.

1. My website IS ranking for many competitive keyword phrases.

2. My website is available in Social Media websites.

3. I have indeed, over 10,000 backlinks according to Google Webmaster Tools.
Not sure which outdated tool you are using to determine backlinks, but it is
quite dubious indeed.

4. You did not find my website through advertising. I don’t advertise. Big lie
there, Maria.

So, now that your credibility is shot, what’s next?  I’m posting this to my
blog as well.

Thanks,

Ian

************

Some, if not all, of these people need to be exposed for what they are. Fraudulent charlatans. Maria Wilson, SEO Consultant, emailed me and made certain claims that were untruthful and indeed, outright lies.

Perhaps I’ll phone her tomorrow and see what else she has to say for herself. I’ll let you know if I do.

Anyhow the lesson is this: Examine these types of emails carefully. If you do need SEO, be sure to find someone who has been doing this for years, not someone who just recently took a course and suddenly have pronounced themself as a “SEO Consultant.”

Update:

So I called the number, (301) 859-4332. A woman that could barely speak English answered the phone. She claimed to be Maria Wilson. I’m curious how many women in India are named Maria Wilson. As I began to ask questions she advised she was going to pass me over to a colleague.

When I asked where they were located, I was told they were located in India, with an office in New York. She was unable to answer my questions about the total number of backlinks, indeed, trying to suggest that the google search switch “link:” was the only way to know this.

She asked me what keywords I wanted to be ranked for. Instead, I replied to her, “Well, in your email to me, you wrote that ‘Your website About-Flyfishing.com is not ranking top in Google organic search for many competitive keyword phrases.’ so perhaps you could tell me what I should be ranked on, but am not!”

So, I’m to get a free report shortly, apparently.

 

 

64 thoughts on “Another Illegitimate Dishonest SEO Person”

  1. Thanks for making me laugh this morning Ian. I received the same email and whilst having a cup of coffee thought I would just Google the phone number and see what spam email was all about.

    The fact you called them is brilliant and if I had a work phone rather than my own that would cost a fortune to call India on I would do the same.

    Thanks again.

    Rob

    1. You’re welcome, Rob. If you’re in the States, they are using a New York area code that is forwarded to India. They don’t really have a clue what they are talking about, but their monthly rates start at about $1,500.00 a month.

      I can help you for a bit less than that 🙂 And do it right.

      1. Hi Ian

        I had exactly the same email…word for word! Except my “Consultant” was Sophi Nelson.

        Thought I’d google their details and found your blog. Agree with everything you said.

        I won’t be calling them as I won’t waste the cost of a phone call however it was interesting reading what they had said to you. I get one or two of these every week from various “experts” so its obviously a growing industry!

        Cheers
        Cam

    1. Yea I got the same email as well from Jay(Maria) Glad Ian put up this website that helps out a lot

      My window cleaning company does real high in the rankings because I know my stuff. I have spent a fortune on education in this area. I own not on this service company but others as well. ALL of them rank on page one of google.

      Thanks for making me laugh

  2. Hi Ian
    I just love your post. I got the email twice toady from Ms Wilson. I was highly suspicious of her claims and comments about our website’s low rankings. I was also curious about her phone no. as I reside in Australia and it was obviously not a local no. so I simply Googled her phone number, would you believe and your link came up FIRST!!!
    It was great to have my thoughts echoed and confirmed by you. Just love you reply to her. I intend to send her a similar reply.
    Brilliant. Made my day to expose these parasites!!
    Cheers from OZ
    Kara

    1. Thanks, Kara. Yes, this firm is quite busy with the email spam. And they certainly don’t have a great deal of knowledge of real SEO, that is for sure!

      Thanks for your comment and your contribution!

  3. I just got the same spam, from Jay Plouffe this time. My favorite part is the PS at the bottom saying this is a one-time email and you’ll never be contacted again, but if you want you can reply “REMOVE” to be taken off their list!

  4. I also got this email this morning. First, I thought that she is right because my website has a bad rank. Then, I doubted with her phone number. I searched on Google and found this blog. It really helped me. Thank you~~

  5. Thanks for calling “Maria”! A great cautionary article. I received the same note, word for word, from “Jay Plouff” today. And posted my own warning on my website which is largely based on your web write-up. Whenever possible I will help expose the web charlatans.
    Cheers from Washington state, Barry

  6. To true….
    Maria Wilson
    SEO Consultant

    I got the same e-mail… Ha Ha
    Not a chance that some idiot could even think to pass this off as fact.. My websites all do well on Google natural listings… and I don’t advertise which is what made tis a load of bull S**T so don’t be taken in….
    I was however entertained with the idea of a free report but just could not see the scam .. What the point of this S**T

  7. “Flubit.com Team,

    I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not getting enough Social Media “….. etc etc etc

    Ian, I don’t want to play Devil’s advocate here… but it sort of seems like Maria has indeed improved your organic SEO just from one single e-mail – that’s the most effective SEO expert I have ever seen! :-p

    B

    1. LOL Bertie.. well, no. All she did was send the email. I followed up and reported the news. At the time, I kept receiving similar emails from these discount SEO types.. and it was a bit aggravating. For whatever reason, I was motivated to follow up on this one. It was a pretty hilarious conversation.

      1. So I guess Maria is almost like an SEO Life Coach Expert… guiding people in the right direction just one with one simple email. Hmm I should try and work in Spin… or not.

        Thanks for the article however, given you were the number one result for them I think ‘Maria’ needs to work on their own first.

        1. Life coach expert? Well, if ya think.. give her a call yourself. She’ll tell you that you don’t have enough backlinks. How does she know? Why, because she uses the link operator in Google! Yes, even though Majestic SEO and HREFS all report well over 20,000 links (as does GWMT), Maria knows there are only 39 backlinks because that is what the link operator informed her.

          It truly is that kind of nonsense that SHOULD be reported, don’t you think? I wonder how many mom and pop businesses or others, that don’t have time to get informed, have been mislead by Maria and the likes of her.

  8. Indeed it is! And great job on doing so. 😀

    (just incase it didn’t come across to well, I was being sarcastic calling her a life coach expert).

    Great blog, just had a read through it.

    1. Thanks Bertie.. I did note (or wondered if I was noting) a sense of sarcasm, but couldn’t tell about what exactly :).

      Thanks for the compliment on the blog – it’s a far cry from what I used to post at this domain 5+ years ago before abandoning and taking the site down (back then, it was just mostly politics and philosophy from a libertarian bent). But to prove a few points to some people,I resurrected it, and the original plan was to write about whatever came into my head, including personal stuff, business and professional, and other interests. Thus far, it’s mostly been business related.

      In “resurrecting” the domain and blog, I did make the point I wanted to make, from an SEO perspective :). Believe me, ranking for Maria was never intended whatsoever… I find it quite humourous that it has. I’ve enjoyed the comments that have been posted as a result, and some of the private communications I’ve had as a result of the comments. You never know what might make you new friends!

      After tomorrow, I might change up a bit (June 15th is Tax Deadline Day in Canada for self-employed folk.. I’m behind), and write more about my “wee man” (my 9 year old) and our adventures together. We’ll see.

      Where are you located, Bertie? I could look it up but am too lazy, having a glass of wine before I hit the sack here.

  9. I just got the exact same mail, but signed by Jay Plouffe.
    First thing that came to mind was that it was missing any company website + sent by a gmail account ([email protected])?!

    And your post confirmed my suspictions 🙂 Thanks!

  10. LOL! I just received this email today! HAHAHA! I googled the name and this post showed up. I never even reply to people who send work emails from gmail LOL!
    ——– Original Message ——–
    Subject: Tri-Pac.us must rank high in Google
    From: Jay Plouffe
    Date: Fri, August 03, 2012 6:31 pm
    To: [email protected], [email protected]

    Tri-Pac.us Team,

    I thought you might like to know some of the reasons why you are not getting enough Social Media and Organic search engine traffic for Tri-Pac.us

    1.Your website Tri-Pac.us is not ranking top in Google organic search for many competitive keyword phrases.

    2. Your website profile is not available in most of the Social Media Websites.

    3. Your site has 0 Google back link, this can be improved further.

    There are many additional improvements that could be made to your website, and if you would like to learn about them, and are curious to know what our working together would involve, then I would be glad to provide you with a detailed analysis in the form of a WEBSITE AUDIT REPORT for FREE.

    Our clients consistently tell us that their customers find them because they are at the top of the Google search rankings. Being at the top left of Google (#1- #3 organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s website traffic.
    Sounds interesting? Feel free to email us or alternatively you can provide me with your phone number and the best time to call you.

    —————————————————————–
    Best Regards,
    Jay Plouffe
    SEO Consultant
    (239) 205-3053
    ——————————————————————
    Please Note: This is onetime email and you may ask us to “REMOVE” you from our mailing list.
    Highlights:
    -SEO plans start from $1500/month
    -Guaranteed lowest price and highest quality
    -Dedicated Indian Link Builders with American Account Managers
    -Largest SEO company Since 2000

    1. I was being spammed by Jay Plouffe too about that SEO crap. He is very persistent even though I told him many times I couldn’t afford it. I guess Ian was right, they are liars because they don’t even follow their note on the bottom that it was a “one time email”.

  11. I have also been getting spam with the same text from different email IDs. Unfortunately, I can’t mark them spam since they are sent using the contact form on my site.

  12. Received the same email from Jay today through my “Contact Us” section of my website. Thank you for posting the information so people like us who are curious can find out about creeps like this can be fore-warned.

  13. Got one right about now, from Jay Plouffe, the phone number he uses this time is: (888)-272-8734. The rest of the message is pretty much the same… The thing is that my site was launched only 3 months ago and i am not positioned and i am infact checking SEO professinal hiring and in fact found a company (through a recomendation) in…. Inidia… but this is a real serious company (hopefully)….

  14. Thanks for posting! One of our managers received pretty much the exact same email this morning and asked if it was something we need to concerned about. I was already writing it off as spam and thanks for confirming my suspicions!

  15. Hi Ian
    I too have had a few e-mails from this person or persons…

    Because the individual in question has a clause stating it was a once only e-mail etc… i got curious today and did a google search and found your blog 😉

    Seo is hard, it also works on delayed gradification, it takes quite a few attempts at tinkering and honing to get it just right… In between each improvement you make you have to wait for the Google bot to go back in and rerate the page. mine is every 25 days after this, data collection on that change begins slower than snail mail but over time it is worth the effort.

    warm regards

    Shane

  16. I received an email too. The funny thing is, if they know SEO and are so great at it, why to they have to spam EVERYBODY! If they truly were SEO experts, they would not need to solicit new business via email spam!

      1. Background

        The Liberal Government in Ontario (not federal) passed a law to ban Staffordshire Bull Terriers. This is why I have concerns re. a copy to a Liberal MPP re our website. What could be the interest?

        1. Not sure, Coleen. I too live in Ontario and am familiar with that idiotic ban. Perhaps you have a website which has a link to your MP’s email or something like that? No idea… but whatever the connection, the email you received was simply pure spam.

          1. there is a link to all MPP’s for writing purposes.

            Write to yours and ask for Third Reading of Bill 16 please. McGuinty won’t call it.

  17. My story is different. I gave a try and it worked well for me. I started with them for some of my clients in the month of January and in three months, they generated a lot of high quality back links, increased traffic and got many branded keywords in top 5 position such as “Canada tourism”, “hotels Niagara falls” etc.

    I could not wait and gave all my clients SEO accounts to them in the month of July. So my clients are getting result and I am enjoying. I am visiting them next month.

    1. LOL Shilla. You’re funny. You posted here using an IP address from India….

      See, I don’t like liars. There is no such person as “Jay Plouffe” or “Maria Wilson,” at least not so far as these emails are concerned.

      Furthermore, they are complete spammers. Finally, they have no idea how to do a proper back link profile.

      And top five for [canada tourism]?? Ummmm… I just checked that search term….. I think you’re full of it, Shilla.

  18. Wow “Shilla” how did you do that? I asked them for more information and never heard anything again. I am in need of cheap amusement from incompetent SEO idiot spammers and would love to hear what they have to say.
    Barry
    PS – your user profile here links to a site that cautions “Warning: Possible phishing site.” You guys are just too darn funny!

  19. Same email received, from IP 203.129.198.52
    this IP is coming from INDIA, KARNATAKA, BENGALORE
    Latitude, Longitude 12.97623, 77.60329 (12°58’34″N 77°36’12″E)
    Connection through SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARKS OF INDIA
    —–
    2. Your website profile is not available in most of the Social Media Websites. 3. Your site has 6 Google back links, this can be improved further. There are many additional improvements that could be made to your website, and if you would like to learn about them, and are curious to know what our working together would involve, then I would be glad to provide you with a detailed analysis in the form of a WEBSITE AUDIT REPORT for FREE. Our clients consistently tell us that their customers find them because they are at the top of the Google search rankings. Being at the top left of Google (#1- #3 organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s website traffic and online reputation. I found your site in the Google search and after having a look over your website I think you should go for an SEO campaign to boost your marketing strategy. Sounds interesting? Feel free to email us or alternatively you can provide me with your phone number and the best time to call you. —————————————————————– Best Regards, Maria Wilson SEO Consultant (301) 859-4903 —————————————————————— PS1: This is onetime email and you may ask us to “REMOVE” you from our mailing list. PS2: I found your site from online advertising but did not click. PS3: We operate 24 x7. I will be happy to send you links to price list,money back guarantee, client rankings, client testimonials, “How we are different from others?”, and “Why should you choose us?” on receiving a response from you.
    IP Address : 203.129.198.52

  20. Thanks for posting this. I googled her name and to see if the email was legit at all and thankfully I found this blog.

    I am actually looking for a good SEO person, so if you are interested and think you might be able to help, send me an email.

    1. Hey Bill, thanks for your comment. Glad we could be of service here. Yes, I might be able to help you and will send off an email to you later this evening. Look forward to making your acquaintance and seeing if we can work together.

      1. Hi, I am crystal, we just need to find the real seo expert for our website. I want to say I also get the same content email from jay , but the signature is maria wilson. I also check their website, also online chat with sophi yesterday. Right now I check this blog and find everybody’s comments, I feel confused. Does anyone can recomend the real seo professional company that can help our company. Does anyone can recommend me a true one?

  21. Maria is still hard at work and sent me one of her spammy messages through the contact form of one of my websites today. (I googled her phone number and found this post – good on you for posting it 🙂

    Same as you I was not impressed by the lies about that website which is ranking high for many competitive terms and has plenty of back links. We also dont use any online advertising, just SEO.

    I feel sorry for the businesses that fall for these dodgy companies. They are likely out to get your website passwords more than to actually help you even with basic SEO.

    1. I feel sorry for the ones that fall for these, too. While no one can ever guarantee search engine results, there are some things that can be done to lessen the risks of being penalized. Sadly, these companies don’t take that approach in most cases.

  22. Thank you for this post! I’d like to add another name they use now – Sophi Nelson. Good thing I google every person that sends me business-related emails, your post helped me to leave this spammer’s email in the spam folder, where it belongs.

    Tali

  23. I keep telling these people the same thing over and over again:

    “If you can do SEO, why are you sending spam like this? If your SEO does not work to get customers for you, how can you help anyone else…???”

    1. Chris, you have precisely and concisely defined the issue.

      I suspect that “Maria’s” and “Jay’s” REAL business is to sell their spam strategy to other spammers in some sort of Indian pyramid scheme. This would explain why we see the same note again with different phone numbers.

  24. I got the same email from a “Bob Martin” with the email [email protected] and same (301) 859-4903 number. I do web development and SEO with good search placement and the idiots email and phone me all the time. Blind spamming. Can’t stop them so I just have some jollies by emailing and phone and grinding them with questions. Most don’t know anything about SEO. Largely a thinly disguised fraud. Outing their phone numbers and email they use helps people to check their online reputation. Thanks for making the effort!

  25. Does any company are expert in seo, we need find the real one. If your company are very professional SEO company or person, please send email to me. My email address is [email protected] I hope this time not jay, not maria ,not sophi. I really hate the liar.

  26. I got this email for a website that I do not own where I may have at one time made a comment. The scam still continues and they have learned little from Googling their own phony phone number. Thanks, Ian for looking into this.

    Roger

  27. Yup, Maria got me this morning. I too googled her number and fortunately I landed on this post. What’s the point of them sending out the spam messages? It just annoys the hell out of me, but the real Maria must get done calls or replies to encourage her to keep doing it. These are modern day Ambulence chasers.

  28. Pingback: Beware the SEO snake oil merchants | Baker Marketing

  29. They’re still doing the rounds … same phone number but the name is now Diana J. Blevins. The email content is still the same as Ian exposed all those months ago. Can’t these con artists have a little originality?

  30. Just got this email a few minutes ago. It’s funny because we’re an SEO company that actually ranks well. It’s amazing how these SEO scam artists make a bad name for the real professionals. The sad part about it is that these people will make all the sales.

  31. Love these comments! We to have had multiple identical e-mails (unsolicited of course) and am happy to see there is now a site exposing them – please do what we do, send any SEO offers from India to these guys and have them publish their nonsense. The more we expose, hopefully the less people will get caught in these scams.

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