Readers are probably tired of me going on and on about the mysterious emails I receive, from senders who purport to be the leaders of non-specific adolescent writing groups. But it nags at me when I can't ferret out someone's angle.
To recap, every so often someone contacts me through my website and tells me that one of their young pupils has found a "helpful" link that they would be so honored to have me add to my page of self-publishing tips and give them credit for it by name.
It's not as if I'm a complete dunce. I've checked out the links and they're clearly on the up and up. I have LifeLock, which chastises me in no uncertain terms when I'm trying to access a malicious site, and in fact bars me from going further. So, nobody is trying to seize control of my website.
The red flag for me is that when I try to engage the correspondent in a dialogue they never, ever respond. Why not? Even the first few times, when I obligingly acceded to a request and let them know I had, they didn't even bother to respond and thank me.
I've Googled the scant bits of identifying info these people supply in their emails (the name of their library, for example, but never its location), and what I've been able to find seems legit. I suppose someone could spoof a real person's email address, but I fail to see the point. It seems like a lot of effort to accomplish nothing.
I should be thankful, I guess, that if these emails are all emanating from the same person, the fact that I pushed back (politely) may discourage them from continuing to try.
Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the mystery.
UPDATE: I found this on Reddit:
Hi
I have a website and it has a page with useful links (educational websites, tutorials, ...), Today I got an email from a teacher to ask if I could add a link to motivate his students. Because it is so general worded, I am a bit suspicious. Any ideas? The email is copied below with identifying details taken out):
Hi ----,
I am Mr. ---, an educator currently guiding a group of homeschooling students on their educational journey. As we explore the world of science resources, we came across your links page www.mywebsite.com and I wanted to express our sincere appreciation for the invaluable information on your website that has greatly benefited our studies.
One of our dedicated students, ---, has been conducting extra credit research and recently discovered a valuable resource on 'online coding courses' available at https://bestcodingbootcamps.com/advice/best-online-coding-courses/. --- was excited about this find and suggested that we share it with you. We believe that this resource would be a valuable addition to your webpage.
I request your consideration of her suggestion; featuring this resource would motivate our students and enhance your website. Your invaluable resources have greatly aided our homeschooling efforts, and we look forward to the possibility of collaboration. Thanks!
A Response:
I've gotten two of these in the past few months. The first time I was
completely drawn in (though I didn't add the link), but now that it's
happened again I'm suspicious. In both cases the link was weird -- it
was an info page on a commercial website that had absolutely nothing to
do with the product that was being sold. One was supposedly from a girl
scout troop leader and the other from a librarian -- you'd think that
the librarian at least would know what a reputable source looks like and
wouldn't be asking me to add a source of low repute to our web page!
Along with your example, which is nearly identical to the two that I've
received in the past few months, I'm pretty sure this must be a scam of
some sort.
No comments:
Post a Comment