* * * * *
                                        
          This won't help, but it provided just a tab bit of enjoyment
                                        
Sigh.

The spam. It does not stop.

I received a followup message from both “Jesse” and “Jen” [1], and now this:

> From: Michelle Barlow <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>
> To: sean@conman.org
> Subject: RE:
> Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:32:51 +0000
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> I came across your site while looking for resources for our next blog and I
> knew I had to reach out immediately, kudos on a fantastic blog. My name is
> Michelle, and I'm reaching out on behalf a online gambling company. This
> month, we're looking to secure sponsorship placements with five prominent
> blogs and your site jumped straight to the top of our list. Please let me
> know if this is something you're interested in discussing further.
> 
> Kind regards,
>  Michelle
> 

If I'm going to receive this crap, I might as well have fun. I replied to
both “Jesse” and “Jen” with the reply I was tempted to reply with (let's see
how they handle that) and to “Michelle” I replied thusly:

> From: Sean Conner <sean@conman.org>
> To: Michelle Barlow <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>
> Subject: Re:
> Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2018 19:16:45 -0400
> 
> It was thus said that the Great Michelle Barlow once stated:
> 
> > Hi there,
> > 
> > I came across your site while looking for resources for our next blog and
> > I knew I had to reach out immediately, kudos on a fantastic blog. My name
> > is Michelle, and I'm reaching out on behalf a online gambling company.
> > This month, we're looking to secure sponsorship placements with five
> > prominent blogs and your site jumped straight to the top of our list.
> > Please let me know if this is something you're interested in discussing
> > further.
> > 
> 
> Thank you so much for the flashbacks I'm now experiencing. I live in
> Florida, and back in 2004, I was working with a gentleman who ran marketing
> for a gambling web site in Costa Rica. Between Hurricane Frances and
> Hurricane Ivan our site (as well as my private server which had no relation
> to the gambling marketing sites) was hacked and completely wiped out by the
> Russian Mob as part of an extortion racket.
> 
> I … I thought I was over it … but …
> 

For background, yes, I was hacked between hurricanes [2] (as part of an
inside job). I can't say for certain if it was the Russian Mob, but hey, it
makes it a bit more exciting.

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2018/03/11.1
[2] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2004/09/19.1

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

.