I got the most angst-ridden and random spam the other day

The subject header was: “Why?”

The message consisted only of “Please answer.”

It made me go :dubious: and it was surprisingly unsettling to think of some filthy-stinkin’ spammer having an existential crisis and deciding to ask that of millions of people.

Anyone ever get anything along the same lines?

Almost as heart-wrenching as “this is your second request.”

Gee, I ignored the first spam. (:

“Because”

I’ve gotten emails, tweets, and Facebook messages from people who claim that they just want to strike up a friendship with me, a random stranger.

Of course, I delete & block all such messages, but it got me to thinking…

Either it’s Step One of a long con, in which I develop a fondness for the person and then, after a period of time, they spring on me that they need money for [reason].

OR, there are actually cultures on this planet where it’s perfectly acceptable, nay expected, that you pick random strangers and try to convince them to be friends with you, just because.

gasp It’s the server! The singularity is upon us.

It could be someone who makes their living writing those “24 people give their reason for X . . .” type of lists. There are numerous ways they use to get folks like us to do their work for them, so all they have to do is cull the list down to the best responses. They also tend to sponsor message boards. . .

For some reason, the ones I get are almost all from (ostensibly) attractive young women.

I had a rando on twitter DM me and ask for my mailing address, he/she wanted to mail me something special because we were new friends. :rolleyes:

“Why not?”