this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
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Over the past couple weeks I've gotten emails from both Senators and a House Rep from the State of Minnesota. All three emails have been concerning the Israel/Palestine conflict, and are worded as replies to a some message I sent them.

I've never set foot in the state, let alone lived there (I'm on the other side of the country). I've never sent messages to any of those members of Congress, and I've never signed any petition giving any group the right to contact Congress about this matter.

I suspect my name and email address might have been used in some sort of astroturfing campaign targeting Congress. Or these might be spam emails impersonating the members of Congress for some reason. I noticed the House rep and one of the Senators is up for re-election this year.

Has anyone else gotten emails like this?

I've tried to send messages back to these people but the forms on their websites require submitting an address in their state/district, so I'm not sure what to do. The From: addresses seem like they might have been faked, or they're no-reply addresses, so I wasn't sure about just replying to the emails.

I also thought about calling their offices but I wasn't sure if this was something important enough to bother their staff about, and they're two hours ahead of me so their offices are closed by the time I get off work anyway.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

but I wasn’t sure if this was something important enough to bother their staff about

If they're getting hit by a campaign of forged emails -- which I suspect you are right about -- they probably do want to know about it.

And even if someone is forging their response emails, they'd probably like to know about it too.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The Zionism lobby is underhanded enough that I’d say it’s likely a certainty.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I debated even mentioning what the replies were about because I knew it would attract comments like this.

I don't know the content of the messages that were sent fraudulently on my behalf. I just infer that they mentioned something about Israel or Palestine or Gaza because that's what the replies talked about.

Regardless of your stance on the issue or who's doing this, it should be very concerning that someone is apparently trying to influence Congress this way.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Nope. Sounds like someone used your address.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Consider that the majority of personal emails are compromised in some way.
I have an email that had been used over the years to rent cars, stay at Airbnbs, make an Instagram account, subscribe to various websites etc all over the US and I'm halfway across the world.
So it's quite likely that your email is also being used randomly.

I think there are sites where you can check if your email has been compromised, but I'm not sure which ones are scams.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Have I Been Pwnd is one I use for this, as far as I know it's legit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Troy Hunt is a good person

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm not surprised by that part at all.

It's that it seems to involve members of Congress and an issue which is likely to be important in the coming election, which seems like more than a simple scam.

I'm also asking if anyone else has had a similar experience so I can get an idea of the scale of this. I'm also trying to figure out if it's specifically Minnesota or if members of Congress from other states have also been targeted.

It also turns out that I also got a couple of Senator Smith's email newsletters, probably because I was automatically added to her mailing list, so now I'm fairly certain the message from her office was genuine.

For what it's worth, I did try to reply to the email but it was bounced back so it was definitely a no-reply address. I'm tempted to call her office tomorrow.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I also tried replying to Senator Klobuchar's email, which didn't bounce so hopefully her staff will see it and get back to me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

My personal emails certainly aren't being used without my knowledge. That would require a pretty extensive cover up and a 2FA workaround

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

They can be used without access.

Plenty of forms let you insert any email without requiring proof that you own it.

This means you can send your complaint/comment/concern without any issues.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Same with physical addresses.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That's not giving anyone access to your email.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Consider that the majority of personal emails are compromised in some way. I have an email that had been used over the years to rent cars, stay at Airbnbs, make an Instagram account, subscribe to various websites etc all over the US and I'm halfway across the world. So it's quite likely that your email is also being used randomly.

I think there are sites where you can check if your email has been compromised, but I'm not sure which ones are scams.

None of that says access, it only says use.

Compromised email can be as simple as it being tieed to a name so it appears valid. It's not access.