[MlMt] Flagging potentially fake email addresses

[Kee Hinckley]

Academia is all a fake of having recommendations from the right people. If the department chair asks a grad student for a favor, you’re likely to jump at the opportunity. Also, the first email was super specific, which would cause some people to suspend disbelief later. This isn’t a typical syntax screwed up scam message:


 I am in a meeting right now working on the study of the development of children of same-sex couples, based on data from the US Census. That is why I am contacting you through mail. I should have called you, but calls are restricted during the meeting. I don't know when the meeting will be rounding up, And i want you to help me out on something very important right away. 

Yes. If you stop to think about it, it’s got a few problems. But lots of people don’t stop to think when the guy holding their budget strings asks for a quick favor.


I’ve sense heard of lots of other variations of this. All managed to pull in multiple people who responded. Organizations don’t tend to reward questioning your boss.

On Feb 13, 2019 at 15:20:33 PST, Randall Gellens <mailmate at randy.pensive.org> wrote:

> On 13 Feb 2019, at 13:46, Kee Hinckley wrote: > 
> > The intro text was professionally done. It was specifically targeted 
> > for a sociology department. Followup text was sloppier and clearly 
> > done on the fly. She managed to alert other students and stopped at 
> > least one person who was just about to buy the cards. The scam works 
> > very well.
> 
> I'm continually surprised how gullible people are.  Why would someone's 
> department chair or other boss send email from a meeting asking the 
> person to purchase gift cards?  I know there's always a rationale in the 
> email ("I'm stuck in this meeting, I need to pay my baby sitter, won't 
> have time later, etc.") but it's never seemed remotely plausible to me.  
> I know people fall for the tax scams, where they get a call from someone 
> claiming to be from the U.S. tax collection agency (or national police 
> or something) and pressuring the person to buy gift cards to pay a tax 
> lien or warrant for arrest or something, and that has always seemed so 
> wildly ridiculous that I'm always amazed people fall for it.
> 
> --Randall
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