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a new angle on the scam thread

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JPSmit

JPSmit

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The other day I received an email that simply said "Is this still your email address."

In my work this isn't that unusual that people should ask that way before a longer email - particularly as many of the people I serve come from countries with different protocols.

I replied that it was and today received a spam email. On the other hand I've got 4.5 million dollars headed my way!!! :rolleyes2:
 
JP - did you recognize the name of the sender of that email?
 
NutmegCT said:
JP - did you recognize the name of the sender of that email?
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no but that isn't unusual - I get lots of emails from people I don't know.
 
JPSmit said:
no but that isn't unusual - I get lots of emails from people I don't know.
Click to expand...
And be advised - sometimes you might get an email from someone you do know, but it really isn't from that person - always look at the email address too, not just the name it's from. I regularly get emails that say they are from someone I know, usually with some message like "Hey, check out these pictures I took on vacation" with a link for you to click. But when I look at the email address it's clear the email is some a scammer spoofing my friend's name.
 
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And if it does match, is what the email asks or requests unusual for that person. Had a friends email get hacked and got some stuff for a supposed hotel in South American and the great deal it would give me. Completely out of character for our communications.
 
Sad that email is going the way of the telephone. So much garbage and spam now, we have to doubt just about every contact we get. Even Craigslist replies seem to be mostly phishing.

Soon as you reply to the fake sender, you've verified your email address and it's sold to spammers.

"Hey I just saw this, and really like it. It's just what I wanted. I'll pay cash for it. I don't use Craigslist email, so contact me directly at SnivelyWhiplash@ThievesDen.com."

grumble grumble
 
Yeah, I've an email addy that's a "honeypot." That forwards to a Yahoo account not used in decades. Even with that the spam folders in our regular accounts gets flooded.

Back in the mid-nineties I interviewed a slob wanting to be an ad rep for our monthly rag, didn't hire him but he apparently used MY email to "further" his reputation. I continue to get email for "William" at my personal addy 'cause it got on some list still being sold.
 
And once you share that email address (or phone number), you've lost control of who gets it and uses it.

As Mama Jefferson described her recipe for Oxtail Soup: "Scrub that oxtail before you put it in, 'cuz you never know where that oxtail's been".

:bananawave:
 
I'm sure "William" is a hit-n-run transient, like so many of the carneys passing thru here. But if we ever met where witnesses are absent...
 
I'm very careful with the use of my personal email and so far don't get much junk. And I don't keep personally identifying information on my machines, it resides on removable flash and such so it need only be there when it has to, then gone. Just in case of a hack of some sort.
 
mikephillips said:
And if it does match, is what the email asks or requests unusual for that person. Had a friends email get hacked and got some stuff for a supposed hotel in South American and the great deal it would give me. Completely out of character for our communications.
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I keep getting emails from our Club President asking me to buy gift cards, so while it may be character, I do have to check the actual return address.
 
Even check the "complete headers" for bogus info.
 
Florida Bar requires me to have an email on file, which, under the Fl Constitution is a public record. I hear from every vendor of "services" to lawyers and every estate agent with a high end property near my county, and every scammer who thinks "Does your firm handle breech (sic) of contract cases?" is clever bait.
Bob
 
bobhustead said:
Florida Bar requires me to have an email on file, which, under the Fl Constitution is a public record. I hear from every vendor of "services" to lawyers and every estate agent with a high end property near my county, and every scammer who thinks "Does your firm handle breech (sic) of contract cases?" is clever bait.
Bob
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I always urge people here NOT to post their email address in the open forum or it will be scooped up by every spammer and scammer bot crawling the internet. If you MUST share you email, do it via PM or, at least use the :at: emoji so the bots that crawl the site won't recognize it as an email address. Someone:at:somewhere.com << People can read it but bots can't.
 
You do your best to warn folks about publicly revealing their email addresses, and other personal info, but humans can be unusually stubborn (or thoughtless). What're you going to do ...

¯\_(ツ)_/¯​

 
bobhustead said:
Florida Bar requires me to have an email on file, which, under the Fl Constitution is a public record. I hear from every vendor of "services" to lawyers and every estate agent with a high end property near my county, and every scammer who thinks "Does your firm handle breech (sic) of contract cases?" is clever bait.
Bob
Click to expand...
I'd be guessing the scammers figure there are enough newly minted lawyers (even with the malapropism) they'd get some takers.

Hope you gave the Bar a unique gmail addy!
 
Speaking of scams - Just got this email via our forum "Contact Us" form:

(No I did NOT click on the link)

IMG_1502.jpg
 
Not just email. I'm getting text messages like one from "Netflix" telling me my account is on hold until I update my payment details. "Click here."

Of course it's on hold, I don't have one.
 
Remember the days when we all only had land lines, and "wrong numbers" were rare, and "junk calls" were even more rare. Junk mail sometimes filled the mailbox, but it was often just addressed to "occupant".

The 'net does a great job of showing us what we're really like.

grumble grumble
 
I have three email accounts - my gmail account for work, a yahoo account for e-newsletters and online buying and another yahoo account for all the ads (harbour freight/ home depot) that I get every day.

Weirdly one of the yahoo accounts is superb at catching spam - the other not so much (and regularly sends 'real' emails to spam) - I still can't sort out why sonce you would presume the same filters from the same company.
 
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