A friend recently received an email from a complete stranger. The email was CCed to about fifteen people that have some connection with him. The CCs include obsolete business contacts who he has only emailed once or twice and a couple of distant relatives who he has only emailed a couple of times in his entire life. Some of the email addresses have been obsolete for years; some are current.
He says that there is no way any one person but him would have all these email addresses. I believe him because he keeps his business life and personal life separate. He himself has never sent out a mass emailing.
The question is, how did the sender get all these email addresses that have some connection with my friend?
Here are some more facts:
The content of the email was a glurgy story about a first grade class, the kind of thing most of us get all the time.
The sender’s profile is that of a female high school student in Springfield,VA. (My friend is in California and doesn’t know anybody in Virginia).
He hasn’t emailed the sender yet to get more information but judging from her profile, the response will be along the lines of “huh, wat r u talking about?”.