The last couple of months I have joined a number of LinkedIn groups. Some of these are official groups backed by a real organization or company (like the K.U.Leuven Computer Science Alumni or the The Greater IBM Connection) but others are pretty vague (like Consultants Network and IT Specialist).

Earlier this week I noticed that an ex-colleague had joined the Belgian Interim-management / Freelance network group. Even though the group's purpose was not very clear to me, I also requested to join the group, assuming it might help me as a freelancer to expand my activities. I was immediately accepted but I also received a personal invitation from the group's moderator called Bob Goossens (4500+) to establish a direct connection.

As moderator of the “Belgian Interim manager / freelancer Network", I hereby approve your application. You will receive a confirmation by e-mail.
As LinkedIn open networker, I would also like to invite you to connect directly.

When people put their number of connections or their email address in their LinkedIn name they obviously have only one goal: get as much connections as possible. Now it turns out people are starting to abuse LinkedIn groups to satisfy their connection whoring.

So far I have followed a number of rules when using LinkedIn:

• Only connect to people that you know personally.
• Be cautious about people that put their number of connections in their name.

I guess I'll add another rule:

• Only join legitimate groups.

So, Mr. Bob Goossens (4500+), your invitation has been flagged as spam.