# Are theses scams? In what way? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 26, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173 "2025-06-26T21:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/1 "2025-06-26T21:43:05Z")
I get this kind of email maybe twice or three times every week. I cannot figure what they are trying to do. They will say: Dear Seldin: We are very impressed by your web site and would like to order some of your products. Please send us your catalog. (Or, please write us describing your products.) I am tempted to tell them, they can choose among cartesian products, tensor products, Kronecker products, dot products, cross products and shuffle products, but I have not done so. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/2 "2025-06-26T21:48:20Z")
I’m not sure they are scams _per se_… I get a lot of these too. I think they are bad attempts at marketing, trying to reel you in to something (who knows what) that they are selling. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/3 "2025-06-26T21:50:20Z")
I’ve never seen that one but guessing they’ll use your catalog (and or descriptions)to sell their own products (or just take money for no product). Possibly giving your contact information to customers/victims. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/4 "2025-06-26T21:59:43Z")
Are theses scams? Probably more than dissertations. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/5 "2025-06-26T22:06:57Z")
I think you mean ‘Are these scamses?’ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/6 "2025-06-26T22:07:34Z")
Hobbits are scamming us? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/7 "2025-06-26T22:13:35Z")
I haven’t seen a scam that opens this way, but if you don’t have a website and you don’t manufacture or stock products, then it’s automatically suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/8 "2025-06-26T22:31:14Z")
I think there are some people/systems who just troll websites that look anything like a “business”, and then try to engage with them, regardless of what they actually are. I’m part of the admin for a non-profit martial arts club, and we get random solicitations from places every few weeks or so. The latest one was for janitorial services. They don’t know or care that we don’t own the space, don’t sell any products, and only take in enough in class fees to cover our rent most months. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/9 "2025-06-26T22:33:45Z")
I do get weird spam from commercial suppliers of things I have mentioned on my website - so, people hoping to sell me stuff - presumably just bulk-emailing a list that was scraped based on keyword searches or something. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/10 "2025-06-26T23:22:22Z")
Once you engage, they will try to sell you something like SEO or email lists. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/11 "2025-06-26T23:23:52Z")
My only web site has a list of math papers that can be downloaded, nothing else. It looks nothing like a business site. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/12 "2025-06-26T23:28:26Z")
They probably never looked at it. Just like other scams, they purchase(or steal) lists of phone numbers (or in this case, websites) to mass email hoping for bites. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/13 "2025-06-26T23:42:13Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I think there are some people/systems who just troll websites that look anything like a “business”, and then try to engage with them, regardless of what they actually are. Yup. I currently work in state government, and we regularly get mail in the webmaster offering to advertise “your plumbing business” (real estate, janitorial, etc.) online or in some directory/publication I’ve never heard of, or install software to help said business flourish. Then again, last week the alleged Sales/Marketing Manager of Saudi Aramco Crude Oil Company wanted to “contract your services to set up a path to work together on a partnership project on which I will elaborate upon your response.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2025, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-theses-scams-in-what-way/1020173/14 "2025-06-27T19:13:29Z")
If you respond favorably, they give you a piece of software to insert in your web page that looks beneficial, but underneath, it diverts your viewers to their site and may hijack other stuff also. I think Pleasant Green (YouTuber) did something on this not long ago.