(no subject)
Apr. 21st, 2002 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckSomeone has managed to pique my curiosity. It's a scam, but…
Basically there's a website that lets people send an anonymous message to someone informing him/her that they've got a "secret admirer." The recipient then goes to the site and, by entering their own e-mail address and the address of the person they think sent the original message, can try to guess who generated the original message. What makes it a scam is that each incorrect guess generates an anonymous message to the address guessed telling that person that they've got a secret admirer. This could spiral infinitely and doesn't take into account the fact that some of the people one might consider likely culprits aren't people one would admire at all. Additionally, after one makes a first incorrect guess, the site offers to let one pay $5 through PayPal to find out who one's admirer is.
Now, I'm curious because I got one of these messages. I'm just not $5 curious. I tried my husband's address as a safe guess to see what would happen, and, of course, it wasn't him. I have no way of knowing whether someone thought that I might have sent them a secret admirer message or whether someone went out of their way to send me one. Unless someone tells me, I'll never know. I hate unsatisfied curiosity.
I just hate spending money on that sort of thing more. I suppose, if I were sure I'd like the answer, I'd be more tempted, but I'm not at all sure that would weigh heavily. My curiosity is, at this point, tinged with grumpiness. I don't want to participate in the chain letter.
Basically there's a website that lets people send an anonymous message to someone informing him/her that they've got a "secret admirer." The recipient then goes to the site and, by entering their own e-mail address and the address of the person they think sent the original message, can try to guess who generated the original message. What makes it a scam is that each incorrect guess generates an anonymous message to the address guessed telling that person that they've got a secret admirer. This could spiral infinitely and doesn't take into account the fact that some of the people one might consider likely culprits aren't people one would admire at all. Additionally, after one makes a first incorrect guess, the site offers to let one pay $5 through PayPal to find out who one's admirer is.
Now, I'm curious because I got one of these messages. I'm just not $5 curious. I tried my husband's address as a safe guess to see what would happen, and, of course, it wasn't him. I have no way of knowing whether someone thought that I might have sent them a secret admirer message or whether someone went out of their way to send me one. Unless someone tells me, I'll never know. I hate unsatisfied curiosity.
I just hate spending money on that sort of thing more. I suppose, if I were sure I'd like the answer, I'd be more tempted, but I'm not at all sure that would weigh heavily. My curiosity is, at this point, tinged with grumpiness. I don't want to participate in the chain letter.
no subject
Date: 2002-04-21 04:12 pm (UTC)