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Re: Is this dangerous?

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In message <10dv95r$3i48u$1@dont-email.me>, Davey 
<davey@example.invalid> writes
>I have received a message from Payment_Engine and a gmail address, with
>a pdf attachment. I find that Payment Engine is a thing, but I do not
>recognise it, nor the the address, nor the name which is the only text
>in the message body. I knew somebody of that name, which is not
>uncommon, about 20 years ago, at work. I very much doubt it is him.
>I have not opened the attachment. What is the best course of action?
>Just delete the whole thing, and if it turns out to be genuine, reply
>that its purpose should have been made much clearer? Send it on to
>somebody or other for investigation and possible action?
>

I get a steady trickle of emails which contain no more than a weblink or 
an attachment.  I never follow the link or open the attachment.   If the 
sender is genuine, then they will put some text in the mail which 
explains why it is being sent.  The purported business may be genuine, 
but it doesn't follow that someone has borrowed their name for nefarious 
purposes.

I also get emails from time to time, which claim to be from one specific 
individual who I knew years back, but the actual email address is always 
different, always with no text, just a weblink.  A good sign that it can 
be ignored.

Do not reply.   If it is spam/fraud then you are confirming to the 
spammers that your address is active.  That's assuming that the address 
hasn't been forged, in which case either the reply will disappear into a 
black hole, or end up in some poor unfortunates in box.

You could try putting the headers into something like SpamCop, which can 
trace back where the email has come from, the chances are it wasn't from 
Gmail.

Adrian
-- 
To Reply :
replace "bulleid" with "adrian" - all mail to bulleid is rejected
Sorry for the rigmarole, If I want spam, I'll go to the shops
Every time someone says "I don't believe in trolls", another one dies.

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Thread

Is this dangerous? Davey <davey@example.invalid> - 2025-10-30 08:55 +0000
  Re: Is this dangerous? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-10-30 09:11 +0000
    Re: Is this dangerous? Davey <davey@example.invalid> - 2025-10-30 09:36 +0000
  Re: Is this dangerous? Adrian <bulleid@ku.gro.lioff> - 2025-10-30 12:02 +0000
    Re: Is this dangerous? Davey <davey@example.invalid> - 2025-10-30 12:38 +0000
  Re: Is this dangerous? "Vincent Coen" <VBCoen@gmail.com> - 2025-10-30 15:07 +0000
    Re: Is this dangerous? Davey <davey@example.invalid> - 2025-10-30 15:45 +0000
      Re: Is this dangerous? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-10-30 17:13 +0000

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