A question about spam

[Rose of Cairo]

Hi all, I'm feeling a bit silly for asking, but... is there spam that aims to make you write an email back??

I'm familiar with the kind of spam that wants to make you visit a certain website. But what about emails trying to make you write an email back? Where is the point in that? Does someone have an interest in me writing an email? How would they make money this way?

[Steve Pavlina]

Definitely. If you write back, there's a good chance you'll be put into an autoresponder set -- you'll receive a series of follow-up emails trying to sell you something.

You'll also verify that a live person is monitoring your email address, which can help spammers create cleaner lists.

[JimOfferman]

Yes, there is.

The point? Getting you to confirm that your e-mail address is valid... then they make money by selling your e-mail address to other spammers.

[Dan.Linehan]

Unsubscribe links can do this as well.

[Rose of Cairo]

Thanks Steve

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Definitely. If you write back, there's a good chance you'll be put into an autoresponder set -- you'll receive a series of follow-up emails trying to sell you something.

Oh?! Incredible!

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

You'll also verify that a live person is monitoring your email address, which can help spammers create cleaner lists.

What do you mean exactly?

The thing is, I just got an email from a person claiming to be in love with me, including some very accurate details about myself and the area I lived in five years ago. It's obviously a fake, it just smells like spam. She also says she's a woman who never thought she would fall in love with a girl, but my guts say it's not a woman who wrote this. She says she got my email address from the students residence I used to live in five years ago, but nobody there knows about this relatively new gmail address, so it's just not possible.

Of course its possible to find all these informations with google when you know my full name. But it takes some time and effort, they even knew the geographical details about the area I lived in. And I ask myself, why would they put so much energy into it? Spam generally gets sent to thousands of people, they cannot google every single person.

What's troubling me even more is that the style of the email is copied from my boyfriend's emails. They use the same vocabulary, the same email layout and some specific details I haven't seen anywhere else. I first thought it was one of his jokes, but he swears he's innocent. It sounds like someone read his emails to me and used the information and style to create this thing.

Now I'm asking myself how secure gmail is? Do they let some strange people scan our emails?? Or does someone sniff between the servers?

I know it's just an unimportant incident, I'll just ignore it, but I'm having a very unpleasant feeling about it. Yuck!


Edit: Jim, Dan, just saw your posts. Thanks!

[Trezker]

I think it's interesting that people get spam in gmail. I have had the same gmail account for years now and never got any spam problems...

[Brutha]

I think it's interesting that people get spam in gmail. I have had the same gmail account for years now and never got any spam problems...

It seems to be a message that is targeted at her personally. Gmails spam filter can't filter out those messages.

Now I'm asking myself how secure gmail is? Do they let some strange people scan our emails?? Or does someone sniff between the servers?

I would think that it is a lot more likely that someone broke in your computer directly rather them breaking into gmail.

Of course its possible to find all these informations with google when you know my full name.

It not difficult to get your full name via google either since you registered your webpage under it.
If someone googles that name he gets a address of a student residence where someone with that name lived in 2002.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Brutha

It not difficult to get your full name via google either since you registered your webpage under it.
If someone googles that name he gets a address of a student residence where someone with that name lived in 2002.

Yes of course, as I said it's not difficult. But "she" also talked about another students residence where we are supposed to have met, of course this can be googled to, but she picked the only single other residence I used to go to. Ok this could be a coincidence. And she knew that there are woods around this other residence, ok with google earth you can see that. But isn't it a bit overkill to google so much just to send a spam email? I'm used to much less subtle spam. And it still doesn't explain why her email is written in K's style. (K talks about the woods and this other residence in his emails, btw).

Originally Posted by Brutha

I would think that it is a lot more likely that someone broke in your computer directly rather them breaking into gmail.

In my computer? That's highly unlikely, I use debian. The logs don't say anything strange. Ok, they can get faked. But even if they're able to hack debian, my emails are not stored on my computer. And I clear the cache every time I close firefox. And for the connection between my computer and gmail I use https.

Of course all of this is not totally secure, but who would go such lengths just for a spam email?

I guess I shouldn't get that paranoid. Usually I don't mind everybody knowing everything about me. But the idea that someone could have access to my emails makes me feel uncomfortable, although there is nothing secret about them. Dunno if that makes sense?

[Brutha]

Of course all of this is not totally secure, but who would go such lengths just for a spam email?

Not everyone who hacks does it for a specific purpose. Some people just do it for the challenge. With would make it harmless.

And it still doesn't explain why her email is written in K's style. (K talks about the woods and this other residence in his emails, btw).

Does he post somewhere on the web?

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Brutha

Not everyone who hacks does it for a specific purpose. Some people just do it for the challenge. With would make it harmless.

I don't think someone hacked my computer. They probably just googled a bit about me, after all that's not difficult, and everything else is pure coincidence.

But I still find it troubling. I don't know why, I know it's irrational, but I can't help having a gut feeling that gmail let some people read our emails.

Originally Posted by Brutha

Does he post somewhere on the web?

No, absolutely not. He's not the computer type of guy, he does not even own one. He doesn't hang around anywhere online and never writes anything publicly.

[Iamsuperman]

Just sign up for gmail (google mail), I haven't got one spam email in about a year now (since signed up).

[Brutha]

Just sign up for gmail (google mail), I haven't got one spam email in about a year now (since signed up).

It won't block a mail like that that is written using herpersonal information and no advertisement.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Iamsuperman

Just sign up for gmail (google mail), I haven't got one spam email in about a year now (since signed up).

I don't know if you have read what I wrote but I AM using gmail. That's exactly the point, I suspect them to let people read my emails.