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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Is This a Phishing Message?
William Maner, Photographer
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Biloxi | MS | USA | Posted: 12:08 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Guys,
I just got this e-mail through my SS listing:
Dear Sir,
I am just looking for a good action camera for snapping photos during sporting events. Softball, basketball, football.... Mainly day games of softball. I want the ability to snap several photos quickly. And the real kicker. Something in the $750 dollar range. I need advise bad. Please help.
Xxx Xxxxxx
The return address is listed as xxxxxxxx%gravesandgraves.com
I'm one to err on the side of caution and not respond... What do you think? |
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Juliann Tallino, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Port Townsend/Seattle | WA | USA | Posted: 12:14 PM on 04.04.08 |
| ->> Actually sounds like someone who lurks on the site looking for camera advise. I get those all the time, I've even had them call me. |
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William Maner, Photographer
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Biloxi | MS | USA | Posted: 12:18 PM on 04.04.08 |
| ->> Thanks Juliann... I was wondering if it might be a lurker who e-mailed a bunch of SS members or that maybe I was the "pick of the day"....however that is determined.. |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington | IL | United States | Posted: 12:21 PM on 04.04.08 |
| ->> I don't know about phishing, but it's certainly a dream. |
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Brian Hollingsworth, Photographer
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Austin | TX | USA | Posted: 12:22 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> I haven't seen it before, but it has some typical signs that it's fake:
#1 They address you as Sir.
#2 No personalization. They don't mention why they contacted you directly. I like the shot you took of... etc.
#3 And they misuse advise. Should be advice. I'd double check my word choice if I wrote to someone I didn't know for advice.
Did you try to search their name or email on the web? Might turn up something.
Just my 2 cents, but I wouldn't reply. |
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William Maner, Photographer
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Biloxi | MS | USA | Posted: 12:28 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Brian.. I'm 50+ amd not that sophisticated when it comes to searches or whois stuff like I've seen posted on the board.
You are right about the "Sir" salutation and the word "advise".. I thought it might be a guy trying to solicit $750 worth of "camera" from me and then scam me. |
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Nick Doan, Photographer
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Scottsdale | AZ | USA | Posted: 12:33 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> They aren't asking you to do anything or buy anything or send anything. They are just asking for advice. I wouldn't have a problem answering such an email.
And, I get random emails from people seeking advice enough that it doesn't surprise me. I always try to be helpful when I have the time (which isn't often right now). Remember when you were first starting out? How many people did you ask advice from? |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 12:51 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Graves & Graves is a Houston based law firm.
You could check their directory to see if the sender is on it.
I received a very similar type of "what is best" series of emails from an individual based on a Craig's list ad I placed a while back. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 1:19 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> nothing wrong that they addressed you as Sir, they show a little respect and immediately scam comes to mind?
it's time that respect and manners made a comeback. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Not Listed | MA | United States | Posted: 1:22 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> William if the message came in through your member page they don't have your personal email address.
If you respond using your personal email account they will have your personal email address to spam and or use for future phishing attempts.
Worse if you have a personal or business domain they will have that too. One of my domains was attacked and now there are millions of emails being sent from one of my old business domains. I still used that old domain from time to time but have stopped as the domain has been flagged by the various filter lists as a hacked/spam abuser.
Just a paranoid .02 |
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Roland Simmons, Photographer, Assistant
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Portland | OR | USA | Posted: 1:55 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Eric,
How does that work? How do they send emails from your domain? I receive spam emails coming from "me" sometimes. Sometimes my emails gets filtered as spam when I email other people. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Not Listed | MA | United States | Posted: 2:13 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Roland I'm not sure how its done. One day I woke up to find 1000's of emails coming from all around the world telling me that my email could not be delivered. I'm sure that someone here knows the detail behind how it is done. I know that the emails were NOT sent from here.
My computers are not infected with any Trojans or a virus. At the time I had my doubts too so I pulled the plug on the machines here and used my laptop for several days. The emailing continued.
I don't know what I would have done if it had been my primary domain. |
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William Maner, Photographer
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Biloxi | MS | USA | Posted: 2:19 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Mark Peters..
I just did a check.. The law firm in Houston, TX has an e-mail contact of "graveslaw.org" not gravesandgraves.com..
If you type in www.gravesandgraves.com it takes you to some log-in page. Doesn't give any info as to what type of site it is. |
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Brian Hollingsworth, Photographer
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Austin | TX | USA | Posted: 2:28 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> Louis- My point was that by addressing it to Sir you can copy and paste the message to several people or spam it without worrying about putting in a name...of course Sir or Madame would have been a dead give away.
Better would be Mr. Maner. At least then you know they're making an effort to read and spell his name correctly. I know that I've always been told to use someone's name and proper title when addressing an unsolicited letter or email...for example to a photo editor. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Not Listed | MA | United States | Posted: 2:33 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> William,
Here is the ownership info for the domain.
domain: gravesandgraves.com
owner: Danny Graves
organization: Graves & Graves Construction, Inc.
email: graves@netease.net
address: 1267 West Main Street
city: Parsons
state: TN
postal-code: 38363
country: US
phone: +1.7318476391
I guess that someone can either send them a note or call to see if there is a shutterbug in the group |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 2:52 PM on 04.04.08 |
->> There is not doubt in my mind that this is (will turn into) some sort of scam.
The grammatical mistakes are are fingerprints from the various Nigerian 419 scams ("sir", "snap", "snapping"). |
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