“I found your email in an old book” email scam

Email users are advised to watch out for an unsolicited email that asserts the sender found the users email address in an old book.

We’ve received reports that email users are getting unexpected emails that claim the sender found their email address in an old book. The email asks the user if they are real and what kind of relationship they have with the book. An example can be seen below –

Hi there
My name is Jean Rafon, I’m from France.
Last week i Bought an old book from street here in Paris and i found your email inside of it, i’m curious to know if this is a real person, and what relate you with this book!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks Jean

It is likely that this is a hook for an online scam, since the same email has been sent en masse to a number of different users.

Possible scams that can result from replying to this email are –

Romance scam, where the scammer strikes a relationship with the victim using this email as a form of bait, and over time gains their trust. From there victims are often instructed to send money to the scammer who then disappears (or asks for more money!)

Malware scam, where the victim and scammer exchange an number of emails before the scammer convinces the victim to click a link to a malware infested website.

Phishing scam, where the scammer sends the victim a link that is designed to steal the login information of the victim.

Whatever the specifics of the scam, this is clearly not a genuine email, and thus it should be ignored.