An interesting twist to the “help with a transaction” spam/scam that we all get. Also a bit troubling, since the following email got past my Google Apps spam filter:

Sir/Madam

I am a lawyer and legal representative to a high profile client within the international community that requires your experience and assistance in the investment of her inherited funds,should this transaction be of interest to you contact me for more details at xxx@unlimitedmail.org

Best regards,
Dominic Chambers

So spammers are now posing as lawyers to lend a note of legitimacy? On the surface, we can probably just shrug our shoulders and say ‘Ah well, that’s spam’. But one further item for legal marketers to consider: If spammers are now using the good name of lawyers in their product, you should also know this is a serious blow to firms that rely on email marketing.

The logical response from spam filter companies will be to up-the-ante when it comes to the words ‘lawyer’ and ‘law firm’; which means getting any kind of email marketing message (ie. newsletters) through spam filters may soon become increasingly difficult. Getting on a client’s ‘white list’ for email should also be an increasing concern.

People have been calling email dead for a while now. Don’t think I’m on that bandwagon just yet, but when it comes to marketing communications, things may soon be in decline. The alternatives like the attention economy, blogging & law firm web publishing should receive the benefit. But, as someone who has seen a lot of success with email marketing over the years, I’m a bit disappointed this very fruitful technique could soon be coming to an end. Especially in the late ’90s and early part of this decade, when it comes to existing client communication, email really did deliver on all accounts. (no pun intended)