Since there are so many ways that as recruiters we're not getting an appropriate bang-for-the-buck from our LinkedIn investments (and more importantly, in any way aligned to the heights of their marketing bluster), I'm going to focus this week on the many ways that we are spammed via the LinkedIn messaging systems.

So to my frenemies in Trust & Safety, this blog's for you!

For this week, I'll focus on the Spam. You've received LinkedIn InMail that is unequivocally spamful. You scrunched up your face two sentences in and thought, "WTF?" You checked to see what level connection you have with this social Charlatan.

"*(^%$$%@#%#$, first degree." You right click on their name and Open Link in New Tab...

You furiously scan up and down the profile of this person whom you let into your "trusted network" on LinkedIn. Your brow is beginning to sweat and your eyes are shrinking into beady little pools of molten lava that are ready to erupt. As you're ready to shout out "DOUCHEBAG", you click on Contact, because you want to call and skewer this bastard.

Only you see this:

opayq.com?

"Opayq.com is a domain used for Masked Emails for Abine’s MaskMe and PrivacySuite products. These are real user email addresses, created by users to protect their online privacy."

Lovely.

Now Spammers are gaining control of LinkedIn accounts, adding their masked emails to your account, and sending your contacts LinkedIn InMails like this (I masked a few things myself to protect this person's identity); notice the punctuation and grammar:

"I give you 100% guarantee of their legitimacy, a trial will convince you" – made me smile, because I was thinking of another kind of trial.

I hope Paul Rockwell has someone on his staff at LinkedIn who will forward him this post.

Fake Profiles, Dating Requests, Marketing InMails, Account Piracy – how soon before LinkedIn ends up as a running joke on TMZ?

And this is the ultimate tool for most recruiters?