What’s the Scam?
To subscribe to my monthly email newsletter, you have to enter your information on the webpage, and then reply to an automatically generated email. This is, of course, to prevent people from subscribing addresses other than their own. Starting last weekend, I have been receiving a lot of individual responses to those emails. Always one line: Thank you for the positive impact your emails have had…
A reader of Crypto-Gram, a newsletter about cryptocurrency, has come forward with allegations of a scam. According to the correspondent, they began receiving a large number of identical emails last weekend. The message within each email was always the same, expressing gratitude for the positive impact the newsletter had on the recipient's life. Phrases such as "your emails are a game-changer," "your emails rock," and "thank you for the exceptional value" were repeated.
The emails appeared to come from various Gmail addresses, all displaying a pattern of random characters. Notably, none of these addresses were actual subscribers to Crypto-Gram. The sender, aware of this, likely had the ability to verify their subscription status. Despite this, no one has responded to any of the correspondent's replies.
The author of the email expressed confusion over the scam's nature, initially considering it as "pig butchering" - a tactic often used in romance scams where the perpetrator slowly builds trust with the victim before asking for money. However, none of the correspondents have engaged in further conversation. The reader seeks assistance in identifying the type of scam involved.
Written by urgent.news from Schneier on Security's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
