Honest mistake, or phishing attempt? (1 Viewer)

[Ricardo C]

I got an email yesterday, apparently from a Spanish-speaking resident of Germany, apologizing for not writing in so long, telling me of how her new job is doing, how she's going to Dusseldorf next month, how I should go visit soon, etc. etc. It's a fairly long email, full of apparently personal details. She mentions a book fair in Catalonia, Spain, in which Colombia will be the guest of honor (Colombia is Venezuela's neighbor to the west), and to please get in touch if I decide to visit.

Since the email address this was sent to consists of my full name, I assumed it was an honest mistake. My name certainly isn't that uncommon, here or in Spain. I almost wrote back explaining she had the wrong person, but then I wondered if maybe it was a complicated phishing scam. So I thought I'd check with you guys, to see if anyone knows anything about it.

EDIT: This person also made some mention of spending time in the Pyrenees. I goggled the email handle, and found a blog related to alpinism. Hmmm.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I would ignore it.

 

[Michael Warner]

I often get wrongly addressed emails meant for a fellow in Germany with whom I share the same full name since our yahoo email addresses are only one letter different. We just forward them to each other.

 

[Jay H]

If you want further reassurance that it's an honest mistake, just take some phrases or words from it and Google it. See if you get some hits...

To me, it sounds like an honest mistake...

In 2003, I went to the Pyrannees and it's a beautiful region for backpacking, cycling, and I'm sure alpinism/mountain climbing. The people are great and the place is beautiful, nice skiing and winter climbing opportunities. I doubt most scammers would know/be into that kind of stuff.

Jay

 

[Ricardo C]

Good idea! I just tried that. No matches for the segments I tried. And the alpinism blog I found under this person's name seems to corroborate her story.

I just sent her a quick note letting her know she probably mistyped her friend's address (mine is first name-period-last name, her friend's must be similar).

 

[MarkHastings]

I would have used my Yahoo email to send a note to that email adress (explaining the possible mistake), that way, if it was a phish, it would have only captured my 'throw away' email and not my personal one.