New spam attack

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   Rupert Taylorposted 4 months ago

   Over the last couple of weeks I've had several personal e-mails that offer enticing business propositions. They have come to me via the "Contact the author" button on articles. Here's an example that was gleaned from a piece I wrote about former CBS newsman Charles Kuralt:
   
   Rupert,
   
   I'm interested in the possibility of purchasing the work of Mr. Kuralt. Can you suggest where would be a practical place to start in regard to acquiring his work?
   
   Any response would be greatly appreciated.
   
   Best Regards
   
   C. Curran
   
   I had thought of offering C. Curran some of Kuralt's rutabaga paintings in my collection but realized that would just release my e-mail address to a wider audience of rascals.
   
   I just hope the trickle of annoying missives isn't a harbinger of a flood to come.

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2. 92

   Jodahposted 4 months ago

   Let’s hope not, Rupert. This sounds rather strange. You are wise not to engage.

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3. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 4 months ago

   John, I was tempted to pull a James Veitch. If you haven't come across him check out this video.
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPD9t9_Kejk

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4. 87

   Lorelei Nettlesposted 4 months ago

   How annoying. Scammers have gotten more intelligent over the years and it gets more and more difficult to spot them. Thanks for the heads up!

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      Jan Stepanposted 4 months agoin reply to this

      I do 100% agree with you, Lorelei. Distinguishing a legitimate offer from a fake one starts to be very tricky.

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5. 95

   PaulGoodman67posted 4 months ago

   I switched off the contact the author option some time ago. I still don't know whether it was a good idea or not. It may have lost me some opportunities, I don't know.
   
   I did it because people were asking me very involved questions. I answered info queries when I worked for libraries but I wasn't prepared to do it for free. (I'm wary of HP's "ask an expert" for similar reasons).
   
   At least it stopped the spam, though.

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6. 95

   Rupert Taylorposted 4 months ago

   I'm reluctant to disable the "contact the author" function because on a couple of occasions people have alerted me to errors in articles by using it. This is now the only way such mistakes can be corrected as the comment system is completely dysfunctional.
   
   At present, it's not a big deal to just delete scammers and spammers, but they could reach tsunami levels. Then, it will be switch off time.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 4 months agoin reply to this

      Yes, I worry about that. People used to point out any mistakes in the comments. Sometimes it was my fault, other times the HP editors had inserted stuff that was wrong or untrue. It didn't happen often but it's better to know about issues so that you can fix them.
      
      It's disappointing that they've not found a way to have a functioning comments system.
      
      Maybe I should switch the messages back on. But it was so problematic. My original reason for joining this site was that I just wanted to write and not worry about much else. Spending big chunks of time answering people's email queries for free was certainly not on my agenda.
      
      There's also something more personal and intrusive about an unwelcome email of whatever type. Most feedback and interactions are best done via the comments in the public domain.

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