What’s the Scam?
Bruce Schneier reports AI-generated fake thank-you replies to his newsletter confirmations from throwaway Gmail accounts; the scam's goal is unclear.
Bruce Schneier describes receiving a burst of AI-generated, one-line praise emails replying to Crypto-Gram newsletter confirmation messages, sent from random-character Gmail addresses. None of the senders actually subscribed, and they did not respond when he replied, weakening a pig-butchering theory. The campaign appears automated, but its objective has not been identified.
- Fake replies use throwaway Gmail accounts with random-character addresses
- None of the senders actually completed newsletter subscription
- Senders did not respond to replies, unlike typical pig-butchering flows
- Content shows hallmark AI-generated phrasing at unusual volume
- Vendors
- Products
- GmailCrypto-Gram
- Victims
- Bruce Schneier
From the original article
1 min read at schneier.comTo subscribe to my monthly email newsletter, you have to enter your information on the webpage, and then reply to an automatically generated email. This is, of course, to prevent people from subscribing addresses other than their own. Starting last weekend, I have been receiving a lot of individual responses to those emails.
By Bruce Schneier · schneier.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.