Strange coincidences and attempted scams

Eco_Miser

numbersrule said:

Notepad_Phil said:

RetSol said:

was the email, for instance does it specify your name and how close is your email address to your actual name or names you use on this or any other forum/facebook/twitter/etc.

The email started "Hello [email address]....

My email address contains my full name. 

I used to use a different email address which does not contain my name.  Time to change back maybe. 

Personally I've never used my name or any part of it in any email address that I've used for non-work purposes. It's very easy then to spot the occasional spam mail that the filters have let through as it will invariably say, as in your example, "Hello emailaddress" or similar. So yes, if I were you, I'd go back to the previous email address.

In my opinion the future management of Internet usage will require email addresses to be Registered to a physical postal address.  The same is likely to apply to all Internet usage including all the social networks.  I believe there will be something known as the Internet Gateway via which everyone will have to login.  Internet access is likely to be restricted to individuals who have provided a validated identity which is linked to a geographically known physical address.  In the future it is likely to be made impossible to use digital services anonymously.

Well that would ruin this board.  Who would provide details of their financial situation (as often requested in order to give specific suggestions) if they were not anonymous?

fenwick458

kuratowski said:

Yes it is a coincidence.  People with UK numbers will obviously be targeted with for common UK "brands" - HMRC, TV Licence, HSBC, Lloyds, Vodafone, etc.  I have received loads of these annoying texts in the past month or two.
Your phone number may have been leaked in one of the "big" data breaches (e.g. facebook, etc).  Mine was

ok, I've not read the full thread but this has happened to me more than once.

I get a new sim for 20p on ebay, and use it to set up online banking profiles. no sooner than they are set up, I get spam calls & texts! I also have the same type of "burner" phones set up for other things (it's not as shady as it sounds, I just don't like my phone getting spammed) for example, I have a 20p ebay sim card in an old phone, and use it to order something, or subscribe to something, and they don't get bombarded with spam later.... so I think the banks are selling details, I've got proof

numbersrule

Eco_Miser said:

numbersrule said:

Notepad_Phil said:

RetSol said:

was the email, for instance does it specify your name and how close is your email address to your actual name or names you use on this or any other forum/facebook/twitter/etc.

The email started "Hello [email address]....

My email address contains my full name. 

I used to use a different email address which does not contain my name.  Time to change back maybe. 

Personally I've never used my name or any part of it in any email address that I've used for non-work purposes. It's very easy then to spot the occasional spam mail that the filters have let through as it will invariably say, as in your example, "Hello emailaddress" or similar. So yes, if I were you, I'd go back to the previous email address.

In my opinion the future management of Internet usage will require email addresses to be Registered to a physical postal address.  The same is likely to apply to all Internet usage including all the social networks.  I believe there will be something known as the Internet Gateway via which everyone will have to login.  Internet access is likely to be restricted to individuals who have provided a validated identity which is linked to a geographically known physical address.  In the future it is likely to be made impossible to use digital services anonymously.

Well that would ruin this board.  Who would provide details of their financial situation (as often requested in order to give specific suggestions) if they were not anonymous?

When every registered citizen has a registered identity, linked to a registered physical postal address they will also have the benefit of regulated advice from their fully registered and truly independent financial adviser, so they won't need to ask questions of a random selection of people who cannot provide any reliance on the comments they post.

Eco_Miser

numbersrule said:

Eco_Miser said:

numbersrule said:

Notepad_Phil said:

RetSol said:

was the email, for instance does it specify your name and how close is your email address to your actual name or names you use on this or any other forum/facebook/twitter/etc.

The email started "Hello [email address]....

My email address contains my full name. 

I used to use a different email address which does not contain my name.  Time to change back maybe. 

Personally I've never used my name or any part of it in any email address that I've used for non-work purposes. It's very easy then to spot the occasional spam mail that the filters have let through as it will invariably say, as in your example, "Hello emailaddress" or similar. So yes, if I were you, I'd go back to the previous email address.

In my opinion the future management of Internet usage will require email addresses to be Registered to a physical postal address.  The same is likely to apply to all Internet usage including all the social networks.  I believe there will be something known as the Internet Gateway via which everyone will have to login.  Internet access is likely to be restricted to individuals who have provided a validated identity which is linked to a geographically known physical address.  In the future it is likely to be made impossible to use digital services anonymously.

Well that would ruin this board.  Who would provide details of their financial situation (as often requested in order to give specific suggestions) if they were not anonymous?

When every registered citizen has a registered identity, linked to a registered physical postal address they will also have the benefit of regulated advice from their fully registered and truly independent financial adviser, so they won't need to ask questions of a random selection of people who cannot provide any reliance on the comments they post.

For free? Because we already have that service available for a charge.