How (if at all) would you respond to this email?

[kenny]

It came from a person with a typical first and last name, using an AOL email acct.
The subject of the email is just, "fall".
This is all the entire email said:

"I slipped while walking and fell. Next thing I knew, I had broken my right femur, It required surgery."

I do not recognize the name, but I have a terrible memory.
I'd say odds are I do not know her since it came in on my personal email address - which I give out to a tiny select few.

If I respond, even with just a brief get-well sentence and it is phishing it may put me on a list of the slightly more gullible - which will invite more spam.

Would you ignore it, report it as spam, or respond to it assuming you forgot her name?

 

[nala]

I’m not worried about spam. It’s just digital data that I can ignore. This coming from the person who has 190, 667 emails ( just checked this amount for this reply) and doesn’t bother to delete any of them.

So if I was curious, I would respond to see if I got a reply.

 

[ItsMainelyYou]

It sounds like it might actually be a mistaken email sent. It's just so random.
Send a response about how terrible this news is, doubly so as you're not even sure you've met yet!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Nope
don't do it Kenny
Ignore it
It could be a scam asking for money
Did she say amything like Hi Kenny or ask your partner or something a friend would know

i have at last count well over 28, 000 unopened emails
most if not all are basically adds for stuff from pearl paradise to my local supermarket and an annoying amount of shoe stores

 

[CMN]

I suspect spam - I would just delete the email.

 

[whitewave]

Delete

 

[dk168]

I suspect it would be a spam/scam requesting for money to help with the medical costs.

My sentiment is that, if I receive such an e-mail, if I ignore it, and the sender is genuine and know me well enough, then he/she would be able to get hold of me via other means.

DK

 

[goldnsilver]

That sounds like a weird email to me! I honestly cant think of any friends or acquaintances who would write anything like that to me out of the blue.

Well phone and email scams have been on the rise during the pandemic (my mobile provider literally sent us service notices recently to NOT answer calls- which was kind of hilarious considering that's what phones are for, after all), so I wouldn't be surprised if it's some new trick, sadly.

 

[missy]

Sounds suspicious to me. I probably would delete and if indeed you know this person perhaps a friend in common will let you know. But in the meantime it feels strange and so I would ignore and delete.

 

[pearlsngems]

Delete!

 

[Rhd3]

It reminds me of a sentence starter. I’d ignore it.

 

[rainydaze]

Ignore it (mark as junk and delete, more precisely)

 

[autumngems]

Delete

 

[ringo865]

Mark as spam and delete. Like others said, if it’s legit, they’ll try to reach you some other way.

 

[MamaBee]

I would delete it..It’s weird to just put fall in the subject line. If you don’t know this person well then why did she need to let you know what happened to her. Strange..

 

[Karl_K]

delete

 

[Madam Bijoux]

I would delete it. Doing anything else is too risky.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I would just delete.

 

[VRBeauty]

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Its so beautifully set up as a scam for money. Please, delete.

Annette

 

[RMOO]

Mark it as spam, and ignore it.

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

It came from a person with a typical first and last name, using an AOL email acct.
The subject of the email is just, "fall".
This is all the entire email said:

"I slipped while walking and fell. Next thing I knew, I had broken my right femur, It required surgery."

I do not recognize the name, but I have a terrible memory.
I'd say odds are I do not know her since it came in on my personal email address - which I give out to a tiny select few.

If I respond, even with just a brief get-well sentence and it is phishing it may put me on a list of the slightly more gullible - which will invite more spam.

Would you ignore it, report it as spam, or respond to it assuming you forgot her name?

Fell where? On your sidewalk or across the country? When?
This person is just hoping someone will respond to this vaguely pitiful situation. Get rid of it.

 

[ringo865]

Right, like you’re gonna reply “OMG, that’s so strange/sad/scary. Are you okay?” Then they reply, “yah, but I need $5000 wired ASAP to pay the doctor or they won’t release me” then you’re like OMG, I better wire $5000 to this almost maybe acquaintance who has no parents, siblings, partner, closer friend than I such that only I can save his/her day. Scam du jour.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I would absolutely delete it. I think it is someone just phishing for a response. I get lots of crazy emails that I delete before opening. I figure if it is someone that really wants to reach me, their email address would be something that I would recognize or would have a subject line that resonates with me somehow.

 

[kenny]

...
Did she say amything like Hi Kenny or ask your partner or something a friend would know

...

Nope.
Everything she wrote is in my opening post above.

 

[kenny]

Thanks all.
I'm going to ignore it.

I just wonder how she (more likely he, because IMO men are more likely to be scumbags than women) got my most personal email address.
I rarely give it out, even then only to those I trust enough to give my real home address.

Do you think they have a computer that sends the same msg to every possible address, even i64a*!267vc4atyahoo.com?

 

[VRBeauty]

Thanks all.
I'm going to ignore it.

I just wonder how she (more likely he, because IMO men are more likely to be scumbags than women) got my most personal email address.
I rarely give it out, even then only to those I trust enough to give me real home address too.

Do you think they have a computer that sends the same msg to every possible address, even i64a*![email protected]?

It’s more likely someone got access to a friend’s contact list and got your super secret address that way.

 

[Lookinagain]

It’s more likely someone got access to a friend’s contact list and got your super secret address that way.

agree, someone you know probably got hacked and then this email was sent to everyone in their address book. I've gotten strange emails like this and that was the explanation.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I once found an odd one like this cleaning out my span
Im sure it was from Nigeria
i think it started off
Nicola, my old friend

Delete is the best thing

 

[LilAlex]

"I slipped while walking and fell. Next thing I knew, I had broken my right femur, It required surgery."

Anyone who knows to say "femur" knows to include your name and theirs, and more than a single sentence. And why is it germane that it's the right one? At least it wasn't the left!

I would bet a FCD that this is spam/phishing/etc.