Warning:my Points

[Maleficent2]

just a word of caution about clickable links to MY POints points.

they are cracking down again and you can have your account disabled if you click on a link from anywhere other than My Points website or e-mail.


agaisnt my better judgement I did the one posted here esterday now wish I had not I am not so easily swayed in fact that was one of the only times I have ever done that and you can beleive me if they do not disable my account I will never do it again.

They are very serious about this so please DO NOT POST LINKS AND DO NOT CLICK ON THEM.


Mal

letter from MYPOINTS concerning links posted... have seen this on SEVERAL boards!


Dear Administrator:

We would like to take this opportunity to address the MyPoints links that are posted on
your web page:

While we encourage the public discussion of our program and its' benefits, we cannot
allow the public posting of MyPoints links. We do understand that our members wish to
collect points as rapidly as possible and hence do our best to give members as many
point-earning opportunities as possible. However, the distribution and posting of
unsupported links does damage the value of our program. Additionally, MyPoints
members who use links from your website are in direct violation of the MyPoints Terms of
Service which states:

Member agrees not to abuse MyPoints® privileges by conduct which is detrimental to the
interests of MyPoints.com, including without limitation attempting to accrue Points or
spend Points in a manner inconsistent with the rules of MyPoints® or intent of this
Agreement, having multiple accounts, attempting to earn Points through other than
legitimate channels, participating in purchasing or redemption fraud, or tampering with
MyPoints® award links, etc.

If you continue to distribute point-earning links, we will be forced to block all traffic
coming from your website, and we will take further legal action as necessary to protect
the integrity of our program. Please also bear in mind that members who click on the links
you distribute will find these points reversed and may find their accounts disabled - in
which case their entire account balance will be forfeited as well.

So while we appreciate your enthusiasm for the MyPoints program, we ask that you
promptly remove any and all links to MyPoints offers from your website. Please feel free
to contact us at the below email address should you have any questions regarding the
content of this letter.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation, and we are very sorry for any confusion over
this issue. I would like to reiterate that only links provided directly to members by
MyPoints.com and our partners may be used to earn points, and it is a violation of the
MyPoints Terms of Service to distribute links. Please e-mail mops@mypoints.com if you
have any further questions.

 

[WDW4ME]

Thanks, Mal!

I checked this morning at mypoints and got credit for the points from that link yesterday--I hope it will be OK.

I didn't realize their position on this--appreciate the post---don't want to lose this program!

Have enough slipping through my fingers already!

 

[OhMickey]

Thanks for the information. I also didn't realize that this is a no-no. For now on I'll read the fine print.

 

[dmslush]

Thanks for posting this for everyone Mal! I would hate for Pete to get an email like that!

 

[starwood]

I was under the impression that as long as the link didn't take you to the blue screen and you did sign-up for the information/service (as in the last link posted) that this was OK. Do you think they are now changing their position on this?

 

[dmslush]

Starwood,
The only way to really tell if the link is okay is if you can go to that site on your own and find how to get the points. If whatever newsletter, free info, or whatever that everyone is signing up for can be found just by looking around on the website, and then you sign up for it that way and get the points> then it is okay. If the site is giving the points to ANY mypoints members that sign up (like shop at home) then it is okay.

For instance, I went to the Alaska site that was posted her the other day. I found the information and signed up for it, but didn't get the points, that means that it was for just a certain group.

 

[Maleficent2]

just a bumpin.

 

[AF Brenda]

Mal, I'm not a big "link clicker" either, but I thought I would try it this one time, and since there was actually a registration involved, I thought it would be ok. Now, I realize that I shouldn't have, and I'm not only worried about my account, but I also feel bad that I got something that I was really wasn't supposed to. Should I call MyPoints pre-emptively, tell them what I did, and ask them to remove the points? My account has not been disabled, but I'm wondering if calling them before they possibly disable it might be a good strategy. TIA!

 

[dmslush]

Brenda,
I would just email them and let them know that you didn't know that you weren't allowed to click on the link until afterwards, and ask them if they would please remove the points from you account. I think the points pretty much are put into our accounts automatically and then they probably reveiw them every so often, it seems that people's accounts get disabled in bunches (a bunch of people lose their account all at once). So, I would let them know I made a mistake up front.

Think about it, a hundred points aren't even worth a $1, and that is not worth losing your account over.

 

[figment27]

I was unaware of the my points rules relating to clicking on links posted by others. I was under the misguided notion that my points actually wanted people to visit as many sites as possible because this generated income for them. I thought as long as you followed what the link required it was all legitimate. I was SO unaware of this policy that when I did not receive the points initially yesterday, I contacted my points asking WHY and have since received the points. Whether they decide to take them back or disable my account remains to be seen. I can't believe that my points believes those who frequent their site have such dishonest intentions!
Figment27

 

[OhMickey]

From a business aspect, it doesn't make sense to cancel people's accounts. If they do not have a large audience, how are they supposed to get advertisers? I think we may get a warning that this is against MyPoints policy and if we continue, we may lose our accounts.

Unfortunately, this was an innocent mistake made by a few people (myself included). I did not intend to hurt MyPoints. I'm sure no one who did this intended any harm but was just anxious to get some points as they have been slow coming lately.

Hopefully, we've learned our lesson without anyone being banned from MyPoints.

 

[ChisJo]

that posting links to earn points was wrong. I am one who usually goes and gets the points as I find that they are now few and far between. Unfortunately, I guess that it does make sense. The problem that I am finding is that they are posted so easily. Does this apply to all rewards programs, or only to mypoints?

Joline

 

[dmslush]

Crisjo,
As far as I know, Mypoints is the only one that doesn't want us to share the links that we get in bonus mails. As far as beenz and other's like that, I've never heard of anyone having any kind of problem.

Ohmickey,
The only reason that I can figure out that they are so strict about it instead of encouraging us all to visit the sponsor and get the extra points is this: The business in question probably signs a contract that they will pay mypoints a flat fee to generate visits, so mypoints only selects enough people that they think will really be interested in the site to get the points. Say they have decided that 1000 people will get the link and they will make a profit, when 10,000 of us click the link, they end up giving us all the profit money and they get nothing.

 

[Maleficent2]

for anyone who missed this the first time.



Mal