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Snapchat deals with major spam attack

snapchat suffers spam attack
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Snapchat users reported an uptick in spam over the past week, with users reporting weight loss ads  and porn showing up in their inboxes. The company published a blog post apologizing for the attack. 

“We want to apologize for any unwanted Snaps and let you know our team is working on resolving the issue,” Snapchat wrote. Aw, that’s nice, especially coming from a company that hasn’t always been on top of its apology game

But then Snapchat added this choice line: “While we expect to minimize spam, it is the consequence of a quickly growing service.

Emphasis Snapchat’s.

Now, yes, of course Snapchat is going to experience growing pains. But this reads a little like they’re chastising users for reporting the spam. Like they’re throwing their hands up in exasperation at all of these fussy users, whinging about spam. 

The company almost makes up for the weird emphasis on the fateful nature of spam by telling users they appreciate the patience. That’s nice too. This is a much better way of handling a snafu than the response Snapchat issued following the security breach, which was dismissive. Hopefully it’s a sign the ghost is growing up. 

Then again, Snapchat’s only suggestion to avoiding spam was to limit snaps to only existing friends, which won’t make people who enjoy non-spammy snaps from new people very happy. Snapchat denied a connection between this increase in spam and the security breach that occurred over the past month, exposing the phone numbers of millions of users. 

Have you received any Snapchat spam? Let us know in the comments. 

Kate Knibbs
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kate Knibbs is a writer from Chicago. She is very happy that her borderline-unhealthy Internet habits are rewarded with a…
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