It has come to our attention that unscrupulous advertisers are referencing Barchart.com inside a spam email.

Please note that this email has nothing to do with Barchart.com , nor do we or have your email address on file. The company is linking to Barchart.com without our authorization. We can not stop anyone linking to our site, any more than Yahoo can stop anyone linking to their information.

It is Barchart.com's policy to remove the webpage referenced inside a spam email as soon as it is brought to our attention.

We suggest you go after the people that actually sent this email. At the bottom of such emails there tends to be a disclaimer that details those that will profit from it; or go after the companies that host the email servers that allow such emails to be sent.

With more of the recent spam messages there is no "opt out" link and the return address does not work, with Barchart.com as the only visible working link or point of contact. In these cases the spammers are paid in shares of the stock they are promoting. If the stock price were to increase as a result of the emails they send, then the spammers would also increase their profit. With such methods the spammers do not need to provide working contact information to get paid. They just need people to read their emails and purchase the stock they are promoting.

To report spam, you may wish to contact the sender's ISP. How do you find out whom to contact? Look at the domain. This is the part after the "@" sign in an email address or the last part of the server name in a URL. For example, the email address example@example.com has a domain of "example.com."

Once you know the domain, email the entire message (including full headers) to "abuse@" that domain name and explain your situation. For example, if you received spam from spammer@example.com, send the original email and your complaint to abuse@example.com. The ISP may have further requirements, but this is the person or group you need to contact. Please note that spammers frequently forge their identity, and thus the ISP you contact many not be able to take any action.

We strongly encourage all persons to voice their complaints to the necessary authorities who will have the tools to track down and prosecute those responsible. Barchart.com is not associated with such firms and we condemn the spammers that send these emails and are taking whatever action possible to prevent these people from profiting from such illegal methods.

Eero A. Pikat
Director of Internet Services
Barchart.com, Inc.