Threatening Email.Please Help
So, I am pretty upset at the moment. I'm not sure if I can post this here...but, I feel very concerned and need some input from people who know about this issue. I did paste the info below because I'm worried about consequences if this is true. I did remove the link that he attached for me to go to to comply. I hope this will be ok.
I received this email today and don't know if it's just junk or if there is truth to what this person says they have done? Pasted below. I did not click on the link...
Please advise me on how to handle this. I'm nervous!
Thanks!
Lori
Subject: you have been negative SEOd
Message Body:
Hi friend, today I am offering some good SEO services. I want to make
you an offer: you purchase one of my gigs or I will negative SEO your
site by sending spam backlinks. I have sent 20 spam backlinks to your
site so please order this gig to remove them
(link removed)
I hope you make the right choice friend! I ask because I need money to support my family. I hope you understand.
Recent Comments
13
Just saw this Lori. I'm appalled. Report to K&C at once. They can snuff this guy out. Keep your spam filters up too!
I’m not massive tech savvy, but I do know you don’t EVER give in to bullies or these kinds of scammers. Well done and good on you for not giving in to him. I can imagine it’s a nasty shock getting something like this. But you have moral support here. Also sadly in any walk of life, as you have any success at something, there will always be those few scumbags who will try and leech off of you. Be strong. Your a way better person than than the person threatening you.
Thanks for your support Kenny. Much appreciated. I did report the person thru gmail. And am following the advice from the other replies I received. I was so worried that this person could affect my rankings and such going forward. Sheeeesh!
Technically, someone could do what this joker is proposing, but the Penguin algorithm in Google is supposed to be able to detect this kind of activity. Google also has a tool called the disavow tool which is supposed to allow webmasters to specify links from bad places.
What this joker is doing to you is total blackmail and seems like it is against the law. You may want to find out from a lawyer if you have any legal recourse. Doing this is often easier said than done, but most lawyers will give you a free consultation to at least point you in the right direction.
Here are a few decent articles from Moz.com with an explanation of the problem and some possible ways to counteract the issue:
https://moz.com/blog/preparing-for-negative-seo
https://moz.com/blog/do-we-still-need-to-disavow-penguin
Hope this helps,
Jim
Thanks Jim. I will read the info that you attached. I don't have the means to hire an attorney, wish I did. I appreciate your advise.
Thanks again,
Lori
Ignore it. Spam backlinks do virtually nothing. Google is smart. If you want, you can disavow them. There are some great tutorials on that if you search around.
Pretty sure if you have a spam filter you don't have to allow those backlinks to appear at all.
See more comments
Please report it. This is unacceptable.