Over at FastCupid, Brent notes some spam in his Friendster and MySpace inboxes. I’ve started getting the same thing.
First, on July 5, I got this message from Friendster user Jen, whose account was deleted:
Hi there, I’m Jen. I couldn’t sleep so I decided to do some browsing and happened on your ad and I thought I’d drop you a line. I recently moved to San Jose and I thought this would be a great way to meet new people. Outside of my work and my neighbor I don’t know anyone around here. So tell me more about yourself? What brings you to world of online personals? To be honest I liked your ad and thought your pic was cute and according to the site we live pretty close by each other. We should meet up for coffee or someting, it’d give us a chance to really get to know each other. LOL, sorry I have a tendency to ramble on sometimes, tell you what if you’re interested just drop me a line and we can get the ball rolling. I rarely have time to check this mail but you can always get a message to me at [email protected]. Well its getting late, I should probably get to bed soon.. I hope to hear from you soon.
Jen
Next, on September 22, I got a message from another Jen:
Hi there, I’m Jen. I was browsing and saw your ad and I thought I’d drop you a line. I recently moved to Sunnyvale and I thought this would be a great way to meet new people. Outside of my work and my neighbor I don’t know anyone around here. So tell me more about yourself? What brings you to world of online personals? To be honest I liked your ad and thought your pic was cute and according to the site we live pretty close by each other. We should meet up for coffee or someting, it’d give us a chance to really get to know each other. LOL, sorry I have a tendency to ramble on sometimes, tell you what if you’re interested just drop me a line and we can get the ball rolling. I rarely have time to check this mail but you can always get a message to me at [email protected]. Well, I should probably get back to work.. I hope to hear from you soon.
Jen
And lastly, from Carrie on MySpace:
Hey there, how’s it going? I was just browsing around trying to meet some new, exciting people from around here. I recently moved to San Jose so I don’t know too many people. So how’s your weekend treating you? Any plans for this night?? Well I’ll keep this short until I know you’re interested. I’m just looking for someone to hang out and have a good time with….not looking for anything serious. I RARELY get a chance to check my myspace mail, so if you want to chat hit me up at
[email protected] and I’ll send you some more pics. I hope to talk to you soon, hopefully:)Carrie
So. Always in the Bay Area. Always with the subject “Hi Paul.” Always “rarely have time to check this mail.” Always with a Hotmail account.
Who’s doing this, and why? And stop bothering me.
Ooh! Follow up on one of them for me, would’ya? I have a sneaking suspicion that these are porn distributors who are trying to entice you to join services online. This was a super common trend in online dating sites before people had to pay. (As a girl, i’m not getting them… big surprise.)
an account of my experience with this here
I’ve receieved the same friendster spam. One was very convincing, from a friendster member claiming to be from my local area. I asked a friend if he thought it was spam and he didn’t think it could be. After reading your note pointing out common phrases in the spam I now know better. Thanks for the tip.
i think the reasons they say they dont check their friendster that often and instead want you to send an email is so that they can identify your email and then spam you. i have also recieved messages from jen and carrie.
I received a couple similar e-mails and was tempted to respond in the unlikely case they were legit messages. But now I see the fit the same exact pattern as those spamming you. The common theme being they “RARELY check their Myspace mail” despite the fact that they would be notified via e-mail when they have Myspace message waiting. So that BS is the total giveaway.
I just got a myspace message from “Carrie” today. Follows the same pattern… I of course reported it as SPAM.
Thanks for posting this! I got one of these messages in my myspace inbox yesterday from “Cindy” in Vancouver, WA, and a Google search brought me here, so I’m glad I’m able to confirm the following is spam. Since the message is a little different from the ones already posted I figured I’d post it to give people another example of one of these spam letters. Thanks again and have a good one.
-Josh
Portland, OR
_____________________________________________
Subject: Hi Josh
Hi Josh how are things? I was trying to find some people on myspace that are from the area. I have been here in Vancouver about 3 weeks now. I just moved here and I have to say it was pretty rough. I don’t know if you ever had to make a dificult move to some place and not know anyone, but it isn’t easy.
But anyways to keep it short, or at least untill I know if your interested in chating or maybe getting together??? It would be nice to hear back from you soon, I hope you don’t leave me hanging to long ;) Try me at my email because I check back here less frequently. (REMOVED)@hotmail.com I hope this is just the begining…
-Cindy
Wanna echo the thanks – got the message today on Friendster and looked up the phrase:” LOL, sorry I have a tendency to ramble on sometimes”, which landed me here.
Thanks again,
damian
Apparantly this Cindy chick is on both Friendster and MySpace and is desperately looking for friends in all major cities. Got this message today on my Friendster account.
“Hi Jake how are things? I was trying to find some people here on Friendster that are from around here. I have been here in New York about 3 weeks now. I just moved here and I have to say it was pretty rough. I don’t know if you ever had to make a dificult move to some place and not know anyone, but it isn’t easy.
But anyways to keep it short, or at least untill I know if your interested in chating or maybe getting together??? It would be nice to hear back from you soon, I hope you don’t leave me hanging to long ;) Try me at my email because I check back here less frequently. (erased)@hotmail.com I hope this is just the begining…
-Cindy”
Got this today on Friendster. Fits the profile of the scam.
Hi Kenshin. How are you? I was just browsing some people around the area and came across your profile. I’m new around here, actually not too sure how long i’m gonna be here. I am from the United States and i’m basically here for my job but i’m also doing some schooling. I know I will be here a few months at least, possibly more. Anyway, I just joined Friendster and was just looking for some friends, people to hang out with while I am here. Your profile caught my attention so I wanted to contact you.
Would you wanna chat sometime? Get to know each other and hang out sometime? That would be cool.
I also have a lot more pics I can let you see if you want.
If you’re interested I tell you what…If you don’t mind, why don’t you email me at my regular address. It’s just a lot more convenient for me ’cause I don’t come on this site often and I am used to checking my other mail every day. My username there is SaraD4891 the at sign and hot mail dot com.
Sound good?
Hope To talk to you soon.
See ya!
Sara
welll i got the same..
SaraD4891 thing in my friendster … i checked her profile and found it was suspended profile..
I continue to get spams of this style, even though I’ve set my messages to friends-only. How are they still reaching me?
Looks like ‘Sara’ is back on Friendster….
“Why don’t you email me at my regular address, its just for convienence” BS!!!!
Hi Mark. How are you? I was just browsing some people around the area and came across your profile. I’m new around here, actually not too sure how long i’m gonna be here. I’m from the United States and i’m basically here for my job but i’m also doing some schooling. I know I will be here a few months at least, possibly more. Anyway, I just joined Friendster and was just looking for some friends, people to hang out with while I am here. Your profile caught my attention so I wanted to contact you.
Would you wanna chat sometime? Get to know each other and hang out sometime? That would be cool.
I also have a lot more pics I can let you see if you want.
If you’re interested I tell you what…If you don’t mind, why don’t you email me at my regular address. It’s just a lot more convenient for me ’cause I don’t come on this site often and I am used to checking my other mail every day. My username there is SaraD4891 the at sign and hot mail dot com.
Sound good?
Hope To talk to you soon.
See ya!
Sara
———————————————————
She can even show me lots more pictures if I want!!!
Glad I found this blog…
Yeah for a while I was getting so many of those on myspace that I left a note under “who I’d like to meet” : Adult entertainers and Cam Bitches need not apply; I can get laid for free thank you very much…
The funny story about this though, is that I’m currently legitimately dating someone who is employed by one of these businesses.
Funny how the world works…
Thursday, February 02, 2006 4:33:00 AM
Subject: What’s Up?!!
Message: Hi Linn. How are you? I was just browsing some people around the area and came across your profile. I’m new around here, actually not too sure how long i’m gonna be here. I’m from the United States and i’m basically here for my job but i’m also doing some schooling. I know I will be here a few months at least, possibly more. Anyway, I just joined Friendster and was just looking for some friends, people to hang out with while I am here. Your profile caught my attention so I wanted to contact you.
Would you wanna chat sometime? Get to know each other and hang out sometime? That would be cool.
I also have a lot more pics I can let you see if you want.
If you’re interested I tell you what…If you don’t mind, why don’t you email me at my regular address. It’s just a lot more convenient for me ’cause I don’t come on this site often and I am used to checking my other mail every day. My username there is SaraD4891 the at sign and hot mail dot com.
Sound good?
Hope To talk to you soon.
See ya!
Sara
It looks like she changed her e-mail addy:
Hi!! How are you? I was just browsing some people around the area and came across your profile. I’m new around here. My job gave me this opportunity to relocate and I took it. Why not? A new start is always good. Anyway, I just joined Tickle and was just looking for some friends, people to hang out with while I am here. Your profile caught my attention so I wanted to contact you.
Would you wanna chat sometime? Get to know each other and hang out sometime? That would be cool.
I also have a lot more pics I can let you see if you want.
If you’re interested I tell you what…If you don’t mind, why don’t you email me at my regular address. It’s just a lot more convenient for me ’cause I don’t come on this site often and I am used to checking my other mail every day. My username there is SaraP205 the at sign and hot mail dot com.
Sound good?
Hope To talk to you soon.
See ya!
Sara
Thats funny I got one from a SaraP205 on there her screen name was sweetnfluffy. I’m glad I found this site, i’ve learned alot more in just a few minutes on here! thanks for the info
From : SweetNFluffy
Subject : Wanna get naked?
Message : Hi sweety!! How’s it going? I was just searching for some nice men to talk to and hopefully get naked with : o. Could it be you??
Let’s chat. Mail me at SaraP205 at hot mail dotcom. I can send you some pics you will love if you’re interested.
Talk soon!
Sara
Sorry had to go back and get the mail, so here it is, was on housewivesmatch.com
Here is a GREAT SOLUTION for you, if you’re still looking for it:
http://friendstertips.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/how-to-stop-friendster-spam/