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Postby wiggins » Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:22 am

I'm not sure if this is where i should post this, but I recieved an e-mail from a girl whom I don't know called Slyvvia. She's from Thailand, is 17 yrs old and sent a picture with the e-mail. The picture doesn't show up for some reason. She wants me to be a penpal. In the interests of internet and personal security, do you think I should reply. I don't normally recieve e-mails like this, and my hotmail account has been getting spammed recently by Russian ladies looking for partners...So... should I reply, or just delete the e-mail? :?: I'm also wondering what the Christian thing to do would be... what would Jesus do?
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Postby ZiP » Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:29 am

Hmm...
If you've been spammed a lot lately, and this came during the midst of the spam, and you've never received an E-mail like this before, I'm inclined to believe it's spam, and if someone's sending you spam, they probably don't want to be your friend.
I wouldn't suggest replying.

I also don't think Jesus would reply to spam, but I don't know. =)
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Postby Mithrandir » Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:20 am

Hmm.... If "she" didn't say where she got your email address, I'd give it five nines (99.999%) that it's a "phishing" campaign. You might want to look it up on google, though. You may want to try 419 eaters too...

I would suspect that the "attached picture" is really a virus, too. Did you try to click on it? You may have unwittingly installed a virus/trojan/spyware prog on your computer. I'd recommend running adaware and some AV software.
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Postby Jman » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:23 am

I agree with oldphil, you probably shoudn't reply...I wouldn't

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Postby Tycho » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:49 am

Delete it. Replying only proves that the email is valid. And if you have the capability, bounce the email back. I don't know if any Windows email clients have that ability though.
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Postby wiggins » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:38 pm

well, i've never seen this e-mail address before. It didn't come in the bulk mail box. Here's a copy of the e-mail:

Hi...
I'm Slyyiva.i like to be ur penpal.I'm 17 years from Thailand.I already sent my photo with this mail.I hope to keep contact with u...so I will waiting for ur mail.
TAKE CARE
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Postby agasfas » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:28 pm

If it was me I would delete it. Honestly, any email I get from someone I don't know or is over 5kbs I delete it w/o reading. Actually, I only read email from people I know. Anyways, it's really up to you but personally, I wouldn't chance it. If you really want to, download it w/o opening it, then scan it. Though even that isn't accurate all the time.

Though like oldphilosopher has already stated, a lot of times just opening an email is enough to contract a computer virus. That's why I don't open email from people I dont know or over a few kb's.

Her email seems a bit random. Question, how do you think she got your email? Seems a bit suspicious if you ask me... <.< II >.>
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Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Sun Jan 02, 2005 12:49 pm

it definately looks fake. No penpal goes like "hi im blah blah from blah blah talk to me" They usually talk more. But yeah. Delete it and dont reply
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Postby Godly Paladin » Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:59 pm

Delete, I would say.
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Postby Fsiphskilm » Mon Jan 10, 2005 8:29 am

Whenever in doubt, o
I'm leaving CAA perminantly. i've wanted to do this for a long time but I've never gathered the courage to let go.
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