Send an e-mail to the Internet Complaints Office:
- For all spam mails that were sent to you without your request: allgemeiner-spam@internet-beschwerdestelle.de
- For all spam mails that also contain or refer to illegal content: besonderer-spam@internet-beschwerdestelle.de
The complaints office requires information about the sender or the recipient of the spam mail. The information in the sender field of the spam mail is not sufficient for this. You must therefore forward the e-mail with the header (original header) to the Internet Complaints Office.
The complaints office will check the subject of the complaint.
As far as possible, the complaints office will take the following steps:
- It requests the sender to comply with the legal requirements for sending advertising emails in future.
- If the sender does not comply, the Complaints Office will require you to provide an affidavit stating that you
- did not request the e-mail and
- you have no business relationship with the advertising company.
It will forward the information obtained and the spam e-mail to the Wettbewerbszentrale or the Federation of German Consumer Organizations. The latter can assert claims for injunctive relief. - It requests the e-mail provider to take measures to prevent further spam campaigns.
- It draws the attention of the host provider whose website is being advertised by means of spam to the spam campaign. The provider can then take appropriate steps (e.g. contract termination).
- If the spam mail contains indications of telephone number misuse, it will report this to the Federal Network Agency.
The complaints office will not inform you of the status of the procedure or its outcome. The reason for this is the large number of complaints received. Exceptions are possible.
