Spammed by the Gays

[bradly1101]

I just received the email below. I don't keep secrets that I'm gay, but how did The Human Rights Campaign figure that out? I've never emailed them or contributed to them. I've never made my email address visible on Facebook, and never ordered anything "gay" online, and I don't visit any gay sites online.

I know that gays are more accepted now, but that certainly wasn't true when I was younger when being "out" could wreak havoc with your life and well-being (personally I was beaten to a pulp when I was in my early twenties).

This creeps me out, I feel like I was "outed" when I wasn't really "in." Is there no privacy anymore?

[and I hate the use of the word "invoice" - like anyone would fall for that, or that they'd ever get a dime from me after this]

 

[Charmonium]

They don't know, they're just making an educated guess. It's like if you search for pre-natal vitamins and parenting books at Target, they'll figure that you're having a baby and will start sending you ads for diapers.

In some cases it's a pretty good guess, in others, it's off the mark. They could also be targeting you based on your location or based on people you know, groups or organizations you belong to or donated to.

That's why I tend not to donate to any causes. Because if you do it once, they'll send you more requests. Then if you never donate again, they'll make money off of you by selling your personal info. It's a dog eat dog world out there when it comes to charitable fund raising.

 

[Hugh Jass]

You just put off THE VIBE.

 

[Charmonium]

You just put off THE VIBE.

Lol. Gaydar. It's really a thing. Just ask the people at the Gay Defense Command in Cheyenne Mountain.

 

[Newbian]

They have gaydar.

 

[Imp]

So that's why I keep getting ads to clear my criminal record...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Internet marketers as well as hackers know way more about you than you think, it's actually pretty creepy. Don't know how they do it really. I don't even use my main email for signing up for stuff, so all the spam I get is random, and a lot of it is surprisingly very targeted. I've had it happen where I search on a site for something and get spam related to those things later on. How they hell do they get my email and associate it with that web browsing session I have no idea. Have to keep in mind all this stuff is automated. Somebody who really wanted to could figure out my IP and know that it's me because of things I host but that would require some manual digging around. These systems do it automatically.

The weirdest one is every time I order something off Ebay, I get one of those fake package delivery email with a zip virus. Every single time. It's usually UPS, but sometimes Fedex. Basically it's an email saying there was a problem with my shipment and I need to open the "pdf" file, which of course will be a virus. It's not actually from the courier.

 

[amicold]

Somehow somewhere they strung together enough tidbits to target your email. I've had targeted ads/emails from searches I've conducted at school, not logged into anything google, not logged into my .edu email. The only thing I can assume is somehow my .edu email/username has a tie to one of my gmail accounts.

 

[Rakehellion]

Haha, you're gay!

I liked a gay rights page on Facebook some years ago and got endless ads about gay vacations and gay cruises. And they say the gays aren't recruiting. I stopped liking pages for this and other reasons.

Considering these guys know your first name, you probably have a better idea who they are than anyone else.

 

[Jeeebus]

In all fairness your name is Brad and that alone is like a 90% chance you're gay.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Internet marketers as well as hackers know way more about you than you think, it's actually pretty creepy. Don't know how they do it really. I don't even use my main email for signing up for stuff, so all the spam I get is random, and a lot of it is surprisingly very targeted. I've had it happen where I search on a site for something and get spam related to those things later on. How they hell do they get my email and associate it with that web browsing session I have no idea. Have to keep in mind all this stuff is automated. Somebody who really wanted to could figure out my IP and know that it's me because of things I host but that would require some manual digging around. These systems do it automatically.

The weirdest one is every time I order something off Ebay, I get one of those fake package delivery email with a zip virus. Every single time. It's usually UPS, but sometimes Fedex. Basically it's an email saying there was a problem with my shipment and I need to open the "pdf" file, which of course will be a virus. It's not actually from the courier.

Trackers, every website has between 10 and a hundred trackers at least.
All recording every move you make. Every site you visit. Web beacons are also fun, tracking where your mouse is and what you click.
Reading your cookies, for example website a might be reading website b cookies to gather more information about your surfing behavior, if i am not mistaken.

It is all web analytics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics

 

[William Gaatjes]

Even emails with embedded images and html code can be tracked by use of web beacons, i just read... So there you go.

 

[Markbnj]

 

[IronWing]

It could be worse, I get targeted ads for senior dating sites and hospice care.


Edit: I suppose now that I've posted in this thread, I'll get ads for gay senior dating sites and hospice care.

 

[bradly1101]

They don't know, they're just making an educated guess. It's like if you search for pre-natal vitamins and parenting books at Target, they'll figure that you're having a baby and will start sending you ads for diapers.

In some cases it's a pretty good guess, in others, it's off the mark. They could also be targeting you based on your location or based on people you know, groups or organizations you belong to or donated to.

That's why I tend not to donate to any causes. Because if you do it once, they'll send you more requests. Then if you never donate again, they'll make money off of you by selling your personal info. It's a dog eat dog world out there when it comes to charitable fund raising.

Yeah, but I never did any of that.

 

[Rakehellion]

Yeah, but I never did any of that.

Do you use Facebook at all? Have a Google account?

 

[bradly1101]

You just put off THE VIBE.

I thought only TexasHiker did that. Maybe this was meant for him.

 

[Rakehellion]

Trackers, every website has between 10 and a hundred trackers at least.
All recording every move you make. Every site you visit. Web beacons are also fun, tracking where your mouse is and what you click.
Reading your cookies, for example website a might be reading website b cookies to gather more information about your surfing behavior, if i am not mistaken.

It is all web analytics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics

Maybe his cursor hovered over a guy's junk for 0.2 seconds too long.

 

[K1052]

I order lube online by the pallet and haven't gotten an HRC donation request.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you use Facebook?
2. Do you use Twitter?
3. Do you use Grinder?
4. Do you use Windows 10?
5. Do you use the Google?
6. Do you use the internet?

If you answered yes to any of these. There's your answer.

 

[Schmide]

More likely one of your friends computers was compromised and a group of nefarious individuals designed a targeted campaign to get your money. Put the email through spamcop and I put money it comes from an eastern block nation, china or south of the border.

 

[Platypus]

Odd, I look at a lot of "gay" things online and have never been contacted.

 

[IronWing]

Odd, I look at a lot of "gay" things online and have never been contacted.

You have a PM, you sexy thing.

 

[William Gaatjes]

Maybe his cursor hovered over a guy's junk for 0.2 seconds too long.

It is possible, or some friend he has forwarded an email with a web beacon in it. He agreed to download the html content of the email when reading it. And there are the trackers...
By default, email clients do block images and html code unless you enabled it.

 

[Platypus]

You have a PM, you sexy thing.

No, I don't