Auto-responses

An auto-response is an email sent automatically in reply to another email - most commonly used by people who are on holiday. Unfortunately, some members have set up auto-responses to try to harvest items from Freegle communities, or to advertise services. These messages don't always come from an address that's actually subscribed to a community. Email accounts (particularly Hotmail) can also be hacked, so an auto-response may have nothing to do with the account holder - see spammers for some useful tips on this.

How to recognise an auto-response

• It arrives almost as soon as a post has been made - it can even arrive shortly after a special notice or an admin message goes out.
• It usually doesn't name the item offered - it may say something vague like "I'd like to have that".

What to do about auto-responses

• Encourage members not to give their items to the first person to respond (see Fair offer policy), so that harvesting auto-responders don't get an unfair advantage over other members.
• Encourage members to only give items to replies that mention the item, or show other signs that the post has actually been read.
• If the auto-response is offering a service or advertising a product, search the membership list for the email address or similar addresses.
• Set any member who seems to be auto-responding to moderation and "no emails".
• If the auto-response is advertising something, contact the member and politely explain that using Freegle to advertise isn't allowed.
• If the auto-response seems like more than an innocent holiday or out-of-office message, consider issuing a warning.
• If you believe the intent is to advertise or harvest items, let other Freegle moderators know by adding a note to the member's details in ModTools.
• Send this admin: Autoresponders

Back to Specific Circumstances