Oops: The New York Times accidently emails millions of subscribers to tell them their subscription was cancelled.

This morning, The New York Times accidentally sent e-mails to more than eight million people, informing them that they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.

Oops.

And, initially, the paper assumed it was a spam hoax, and reported this to their subscribers via social networks. The Times official Twitter feed sent this message: “If you received an email today about canceling your NYT subscription, ignore it. It’s not from us.”

Oops.


The Times then sent an email of apology to the 8.6 million readers who received the e-mails, and made an apology through spokesperson Eileen Murphy: “We regret that the error was made, but no one’s security has been compromised,” she said.

The e-mail was sent by a Times employee, and not the third-party Epsilon Interactive, the service The Times uses to communicate with subscribers.

Still no explanation of why a Times employee would send out such an email.

Oops.