The technique appears to be that they search a website for strings that look like names, and then they try and guess the email address for that person at that domain. Email addresses tend to follow a limited number of formats, so it probably gets a reasonable success rate, but even so.. the name is still scraped and the recipient emailed without opting in to anything.
From: Jason Williams <jwilliams@theciosummits.org>
To: James Studer [redacted]
Date: 8 November 2010 15:06
subject: James, just following-up.
Hi James, is now a better time to reach out to you in regards to the CIO
Summit? You received a request on behalf of our Board due to your key
role in the technology field and I'm curious to know if a decision has
been made.
The CIO Summit is an invitation-only group comprised of the very best
executives and visionaries in technology. We meet monthly by
teleconference to exchange what is working, what is not, strategies and
ideas. It is a confidential forum with dedicated groups of other
successful VPs and key executives whose only agenda is to help each other
outperform. Our site is at www.theciosummits.org
I am certain you will find the experience both enjoyable and useful in
your efforts. Please take a look and let me know of your decision. Thanks,
James.
Sincerely,
Jason Williams
CIO Summits
Tel. (803) 712-3027
www.theciosummits.org
The information contained in this message is confidential and intended
only for James Studer. If you have received this message in error, please
delete it or mail us back if you no longer wish to receive further
invites. For my records, I show your contact information as: James Studer,
Dynamoocom, [redacted] 800-688-6115 If needed, you can reach
us at 201 17th St, #1200, Atlanta, GA 30363. Thank you.
Who is James Studer exactly? It turns out that he was a contributor to the Orange Book, which I have a section about on my website.. and as with the BizSummits spam I've seen before, the pattern is exactly the same.
CIO Summit's pitch looks fairly deceptive. They have guessed an email address, apparently to make it look like we have a prior relationship. It's worth noting as well that the BBB give parent BizSummits a very poor "F" rating which definitely makes it look like one to avoid.
