WARNING: Verizon FiOS Internet Service Now Reading And Censoring Customers Emails

Verizon has begun censoring emails SENT by customers; ANY email containing ANY hyperlink, is auto-rejected as “SPAM” even if it is related to your business dealings or research

It began on or about October 27, 2015 when a customer of Verizon FiOS tried to send an email reply to someone as part of an ongoing conversation.  In the e-mail was a link to a story on the Internet that the Verizon FiOS customer had previously been discussing with his client.  Strangely, the e-mail was rejected seconds later, when the customer received an email saying:

Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.

Subject:    I took the liberty of

Sent: 11/2/2015 8:40 AM

The following recipient(s) cannot be reached:

‘Ronald G. Russo’ on 11/2/2015 8:40 AM

554 5.7.1 The message you attempted to send was determined to be spam. Please visit http://www.verizon.net/spamfaq for more information.

Clicking on the link within the rejection notice took the Verizon FiOS customer to a web page wherein Verizon described how to try to get this changed.  After following the procedure outlined, and waiting about an hour as instructed, the Verizon FiOS customer tried once again to send the exact same email.  It too, was rejected automatically.

Over the course of the next week, this type of auto-rejection took place more frequently, in emails between the Verizon FiOS customer and his mother, his attorney, his business clients.  This prompted the Verizon FiOS customer to engage in a CHAT with FiOS customer Service.

In chat #11031512909 which took place on November 3, 2015,  Verizon’s customer service tech named “Jaweed” explained that the new SPAM system treated any email containing a hyperlink as “SPAM.”  When the Verizon FiOS customer made clear he did not pay Verizon to interfere with his communications, or pay Verizon to annoy him, Jaweed escalated the CHAT to a supervisor named “Kirin.”

Kirin reviewed the prior chat and then told the Verizon FiOS customer to contact the SpamDetector e-mail address to try to get the issue resolved.  The Verizon FiOS customer had previously done that several times  — to no avail.

The customer contacted SuperStation95 to relay his experience and commented “There are plenty of other broadband suppliers in the world, perhaps when Verizon starts losing clients — and the money they pay each month — Verizon will figure out that censoring customer e-mails is not conducive to keeping customers.

More worrisome to those who think this will not affect them, is Verizon’s clearly stated policy at the SPAM link contained in the rejection notice:

Can I opt out of email scanning?
No. Verizon scans the digital signatures of all inbound and outbound email messages to reduce the overall volume of spam on our network

So if a business person needs to get information to a colleague, or a student needs to get research to a fellow student, or if a wife wants to share an interesting recipe with a friend . . .  all those emails will be rejected by Verizon!

Who gave Verizon the power to decide what their customers can tell each other?

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