A Windows XP help forum. PCbanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PCbanter forum » Microsoft Windows 7 » Windows 7 Forum
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

email from Google+?



 
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old July 23rd 18, 12:30 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default email from Google+?

I've just received an email, apparently from Google+; I've not had one
of these before, and I don't think I've changed any settings in my
relationship with Google. The email subject is "J B followed you on
Google+", and the email has a plain text and an HTML part; the HTML part
says

To share and get the latest, follow J
FOLLOW
Unsubscribe from these emails. View J's profile or block J
completely.
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
https://ssl.gstatic.com/images/brand...us_word_89x27d
p.png

, where the bits I've put in are links; the plain text part says

To share and get the latest, follow J Follow: link
------------------------ Change what email Google+ sends you: link
View J's profile: link Block J completely: link Google LLC, 1600
Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA

in other words much the same except the "J" didn't have a link
associated with it.

I can't say for sure I don't know anyone called "J B", but no-one
springs to mind. I tried the "View J's profile" link from within a
Firefox Private Browsing window, and I'm none the wiser - his icon seems
to be a picture of Sean Connery (I think) holding a gun - one of the
Bonds, anyway. No other information.

Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what on
earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Try to tell me to watch something because it's brilliant and everyone says so
and therefore I will love it, too, and you lose me for ever.
- Alison Graham, RT 2016/2/6-12
Ads
  #2  
Old July 23rd 18, 02:34 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Paul[_32_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,873
Default email from Google+?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I've just received an email, apparently from Google+; I've not had one
of these before, and I don't think I've changed any settings in my
relationship with Google. The email subject is "J B followed you on
Google+", and the email has a plain text and an HTML part; the HTML part
says

To share and get the latest, follow J
FOLLOW
Unsubscribe from these emails. View J's profile or block J
completely.
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
https://ssl.gstatic.com/images/brand...us_word_89x27d
p.png

, where the bits I've put in are links; the plain text part says

To share and get the latest, follow J Follow: link
------------------------ Change what email Google+ sends you: link
View J's profile: link Block J completely: link Google LLC, 1600
Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA

in other words much the same except the "J" didn't have a link
associated with it.

I can't say for sure I don't know anyone called "J B", but no-one
springs to mind. I tried the "View J's profile" link from within a
Firefox Private Browsing window, and I'm none the wiser - his icon seems
to be a picture of Sean Connery (I think) holding a gun - one of the
Bonds, anyway. No other information.

Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what on
earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?


Were you reached at the email address in the header of this post ?

Have you actually registered with Google for anything ?
Maybe if you have gmail, that automatically makes you
a member of Google Plus ? Then the only question would
be, whether you ever "dropped" the email address in the
header of this message, into the two factor authentication
or recovery information of the account setup.

There's got to be some way that email address got
acquired, and you'd have to review where you've
dropped it, to figure out how such a path could
exist.

Paul
  #3  
Old July 23rd 18, 04:19 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,881
Default email from Google+?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

I've just received an email, apparently from Google+; I've not had one
of these before, and I don't think I've changed any settings in my
relationship with Google. The email subject is "J B followed you on
Google+", and the email has a plain text and an HTML part; the HTML part
says

To share and get the latest, follow J
FOLLOW
Unsubscribe from these emails. View J's profile or block J
completely.
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
https://ssl.gstatic.com/images/brand...us_word_89x27d
p.png

, where the bits I've put in are links; the plain text part says

To share and get the latest, follow J Follow: link
------------------------ Change what email Google+ sends you: link
View J's profile: link Block J completely: link Google LLC, 1600
Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA

in other words much the same except the "J" didn't have a link
associated with it.

I can't say for sure I don't know anyone called "J B", but no-one
springs to mind. I tried the "View J's profile" link from within a
Firefox Private Browsing window, and I'm none the wiser - his icon seems
to be a picture of Sean Connery (I think) holding a gun - one of the
Bonds, anyway. No other information.

Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what on
earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?


Google+ is Google's fail[ing] attempt to compete with Facebook. Like
many of Google's services, it is an experiment and it failed yet Google
keeps it alive rather than kill this ghost town community, like they did
with its predecessors.

https://mashable.com/2015/08/02/google-plus-history/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-goo...-is-a-failure/
https://uproxx.com/technology/google...cial-networks/

At some point in using Google services, I got prompted to create a
Google+ profile. I think I was trying to add a review at the Google
Play Store regarding an app. Google uses your Google+ profile to
collate all your reviews along with other activities. This is in
addition to already having a Google account, like for Gmail. I declined
which meant I could not leave an app review. Ah, too bad, no big deal.
Google+ is actually used for Google's global signin. It's whether you
bothered to create a profile or not that determines if you are
participating, even if absent, in the G+ ghost town.

If you have a Google+ profile, anyone can find it and they can choose to
follow you. I think that pushes a notice to you. Oh gee, what a
wonderful event that someone thinks I'm special and will follow my
reviews or other activities. Yech, what a bunch of public ego-stroking.
Since I didn't bother to join Google+ (by creating a G+ profile), I
don't know how it can be configured. If you login at Google Plus
(plus.google.com), assuming you already have a G+ profile (don't bother
creating one if you don't have one and don't want one), check its
settings. There may be notification settings, like someone choose to
follow you.

Without an exhibit of the e-mail, impossible to tell if it was a G+
notification or someone is spoofing a G+ notification hoping you reply
to the e-mail and divulge you have not only a valid e-mail (which they
already validated) but also a monitored e-mail address (something highly
prized by spammers). If there is no config setting to disable G+
notifications about boobs that think it's special to follow (stalk)
other users, you'll have to define an filter either in your local e-mail
client or as a server-side rule.

It could be a legit notification e-mail from G+ telling you some
ego-starved dimwit found your G+ profile and decided to stalk, er,
follow you. It could be a spammer trying to get you to respond to check
the e-mail address is monitored by a human. Lots of users generate
temporary Gmail accounts as disposable addresses which means they have a
G+ account, too, so the spammer doesn't know if he hit a disposable or
otherwise unmonitored Gmail address or an active one.

I don't if you joined G+ is there is a way to unjoin (delete your
profile). If you have a Gmail address, you have a G+ account, too, but
you want to get rid of the profile or configure it to eliminate prompts
about someone stalking you. Ooh, someone who collect fake friends to up
their follow count. Geez.
  #4  
Old July 23rd 18, 08:58 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default email from Google+?

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I've just received an email, apparently from Google+; I've not had
one of these before, and I don't think I've changed any settings in
my relationship with Google. The email subject is "J B followed you
on Google+", and the email has a plain text and an HTML part; the
HTML part says
To share and get the latest, follow J
FOLLOW
Unsubscribe from these emails. View J's profile or block J
completely.
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
https://ssl.gstatic.com/images/brand...us_word_89x27d
p.png
, where the bits I've put in are links; the plain text part says
To share and get the latest, follow J Follow: link
------------------------ Change what email Google+ sends you: link
View J's profile: link Block J completely: link Google LLC, 1600
Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA
in other words much the same except the "J" didn't have a link
associated with it.
I can't say for sure I don't know anyone called "J B", but no-one
springs to mind. I tried the "View J's profile" link from within a
Firefox Private Browsing window, and I'm none the wiser - his icon
seems to be a picture of Sean Connery (I think) holding a gun - one
of the Bonds, anyway. No other information.
Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what
on earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?


Were you reached at the email address in the header of this post ?


The strange email came to my primary address, not the one I use by
default when posting; however, I don't keep my primary one particularly
secret.

Have you actually registered with Google for anything ?


I had - have - a YouTube login, which I set up before Google slurped
YouTube. It is my understanding that I therefore do have a Google one. I
never went for Google Plus ...

Maybe if you have gmail, that automatically makes you
a member of Google Plus ? Then the only question would


.... and I've never had a gmail addy.

be, whether you ever "dropped" the email address in the
header of this message, into the two factor authentication
or recovery information of the account setup.

There's got to be some way that email address got
acquired, and you'd have to review where you've
dropped it, to figure out how such a path could
exist.

Paul


(Most of those two paragraphs went over my head, I'm afraid.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I don't like activity holidays. I like /inactivity/ holidays.
- Miriam Margolyes, RT 2017/4/15-21
  #5  
Old July 23rd 18, 09:10 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,679
Default email from Google+?

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
[]
Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what on
earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?


Google+ is Google's fail[ing] attempt to compete with Facebook. Like
many of Google's services, it is an experiment and it failed yet Google
keeps it alive rather than kill this ghost town community, like they did
with its predecessors.


OK.

Since I don't use facebook or twitter either, I don't know what "follow"
means. I can't _think_ of anything it could mean that would worry me.
[]
If you have a Google+ profile, anyone can find it and they can choose to
follow you. I think that pushes a notice to you. Oh gee, what a


I don't think I have. I have a plain Google one, as a by-product of
having had a YouTube one from before Google took over YouTube.

wonderful event that someone thinks I'm special and will follow my
reviews or other activities. Yech, what a bunch of public ego-stroking.


What does "follow" mean - s/he gets an email whenever I write something?
Bit weird if that's what it does mean, but I can't say I'm worried.

Since I didn't bother to join Google+ (by creating a G+ profile), I

[]
Without an exhibit of the e-mail, impossible to tell if it was a G+


Not sure what you mean by "an exhibit" of it; what I posted here was
cut-and-pasted from the text of the email (just leaving out the links
from the plain text version - more to make it legible [they were mostly
about four lines long] than to conceal them; they were invisible in the
HTML version).
[]
It could be a legit notification e-mail from G+ telling you some


I rather suspect it is - I just hadn't had one before.

ego-starved dimwit found your G+ profile and decided to stalk, er,
follow you. It could be a spammer trying to get you to respond to check
the e-mail address is monitored by a human. Lots of users generate
temporary Gmail accounts as disposable addresses which means they have a
G+ account, too, so the spammer doesn't know if he hit a disposable or
otherwise unmonitored Gmail address or an active one.

I don't if you joined G+ is there is a way to unjoin (delete your
profile). If you have a Gmail address, you have a G+ account, too, but
you want to get rid of the profile or configure it to eliminate prompts
about someone stalking you. Ooh, someone who collect fake friends to up
their follow count. Geez.

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I don't like activity holidays. I like /inactivity/ holidays.
- Miriam Margolyes, RT 2017/4/15-21
  #6  
Old July 23rd 18, 10:21 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Paul[_32_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 11,873
Default email from Google+?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , VanguardLH writes:
[]
Is it some sort of obscure phishing attempt? If it's genuine, what on
earth is it about - what does "followed" mean in this context?


Google+ is Google's fail[ing] attempt to compete with Facebook. Like
many of Google's services, it is an experiment and it failed yet Google
keeps it alive rather than kill this ghost town community, like they did
with its predecessors.


OK.

Since I don't use facebook or twitter either, I don't know what "follow"
means. I can't _think_ of anything it could mean that would worry me.


Imagine if you were a famous person with three million followers.

Would you have to hit the delete button in
your email tool three million times as a result ?

Seems like a scaling nightmare...

Paul
  #7  
Old July 23rd 18, 11:08 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Daniel60
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 72
Default email from Google+?

VanguardLH wrote on 23/07/2018 1:19 PM:

Snip

I don't if you joined G+ is there is a way to unjoin (delete your
profile). If you have a Gmail address, you have a G+ account, too,
but you want to get rid of the profile or configure it to eliminate
prompts about someone stalking you. Ooh, someone who collect fake
friends to up their follow count. Geez.

Several years ago, I was convinced to start a "Linked-In" account (to
keep in touch with family, friends, work-colleagues, etc) but soon found
I was doing nothing with it, so I closed it/de-registered/whatever.

Every couple of months I get an e-mail from Linked-In telling me
someone, whom I don't know, has linked to my account.

But, hang on, I thought I closed that account!! ;-(

Seems they're just trying to keep their account-holder numbers up!!
--
Daniel
  #8  
Old July 23rd 18, 01:16 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mayayana
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,438
Default email from Google+?

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote

| Since I don't use facebook or twitter either, I don't know what "follow"
| means. I can't _think_ of anything it could mean that would worry me.
|
Generally it means signing up to receive copies of
posts from that person. There was recently news that
celebrities were losing many of their Twitter followers
because Twitter was cleaning out fake accounts.
Celebrities pay companies to set up fake accounts
to follow them. It's become a status symbol. Anyone
who hopes to be anyone needs to have millions of
followers receive their 2 cents in their own feed. Then
they hire a staff to make posts, like, "I'm so happy
with my new Acme handbag. I don't know how I lived
without one for so long!!!"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44815550

For young kids it's the Internet version of a fan club.
But one also follows one's own friends.

I don't use any of these things, either, but I
have a neice who occasionally updates me on
Millennial culture trends. It seems that companies
like Twitter and Facebook started out as social
chats. People would follow their friends at Facebook
and thereby see posts their friends made. They'd
follow their friends quips on Twitter and also perhaps
follow pop stars and such. Then came ads
masquerading as posts. Companies offered trinkets
in exchange for following them. ("Follow us on
Facebook!") Facebook inserted ads. Things got
crowded. Facebook began deciding which of your
friends' posts were more important than a Pepsi ad.
(Who knew you'd friended Pepsi?
Facebook added news, as another excuse to show
ads and keep people on their site. The news got
infested with everything from corporate advertisers
to Russian spies.... We ended up with
Donald Trump in the White House and democracy
teetering, while half the population walk around like
zombies, glued to their feed. Because their social
reputation is constantly a work in progress that
needs minding. Because they follow and have followers.
And that creates an ever-changing web of posts
and comments that one needs to keep up with.

I suspect the follower notice you got, assuming
it came from Google, was some kind of ad scam.

I occasionally get email from LinkedIn. They're
now owned by MS and may not be as bad, but for
a long time they were tricking people into signing up
and allowing access to their address book. So I'd
get an email saying so-and-so is sending me an
invite to join LinkedIn. My elderly father fell for
that one. Someone told him to sign up, he let LinkedIn
steal his address book, and they'd send en masse to
all those addresses periodically, telling the recipient
that he was inviting them to join, wanted to add them
to his resume, or some such.

Recently I was getting invites from something
else. I can't remember what it was now. Someone
wanted me to meet them on Facebook or somewhere.
I need to reply. Blah, blah, blah. I've had 3 of them
from the same person that I've never heard of. Maybe
the company rifled through their email. Maybe it's a
scam. I don't know. That's one of the nice things
about not joining these "social" sites: when you
get email from them you don't have to wonder
whether it's legit. It's not.

There's always the very remote chance that it's
a friend of a friend who's trying to contact me. But
in that case the person will just have to discover
telephones and email. If they can't do that then
whatever they have to say can't be very important.


  #9  
Old July 23rd 18, 04:02 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
pyotr filipivich
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 752
Default email from Google+?

"Mayayana" on Mon, 23 Jul 2018 08:16:04
-0400 typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote

| Since I don't use facebook or twitter either, I don't know what "follow"
| means. I can't _think_ of anything it could mean that would worry me.
|
Generally it means signing up to receive copies of
posts from that person.


I think of it as a "filter" to read stuff by X.

Let us face it, there are people in this newsgroup who are worth
reading, and there are those who aren't. (Tastes is tastes.) Just as
there are authors whose books or articles I'm willing to go out of my
way to read, there are people on Facebook/Twitter or in the
Blogosphere whose musings I find interesting enough to want to read.
("If you can't be informative, be entertaining".)

So, I "follow". I also unfollow, especially when their interest
or entertainment value tanks.

tschus
pyotr

--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?
  #10  
Old July 23rd 18, 07:50 PM posted to alt.windows7.general
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,881
Default email from Google+?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

What does "follow" mean - s/he gets an email whenever I write something?
Bit weird if that's what it does mean, but I can't say I'm worried.


https://www.dummies.com/social-media...ers-in-google/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2AEymyw7UA

They can see what reviews you've posted. There are probably other
activities they can see, like those who want to follow your videos on
YouTube (so when you create a new one then they'll know about it). They
cannot see your e-mails or dive into your Google Drive (except public
folders you created for public sharing).

If you don't want a G+ profile, say, because you're not interested in
others stalking, er, following you in some circle of fake friends
they've created, you can delete your G+ profile (which does NOT delete
your Google account). Read:

https://www.wikihow.com/Delete-a-Google%2B-Account
(As with many of these pseudo-news blogs, there is no datestamp which
means the article could be outdated due to changes.)

Alternatively, you might just want to kill the G+ notifications. Read:

https://support.google.com/plus/answer/6320390?hl=en
  #11  
Old July 24th 18, 12:16 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
Mayayana
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,438
Default email from Google+?

"pyotr filipivich" wrote

| So, I "follow". I also unfollow, especially when their interest
| or entertainment value tanks.
|

It has a specific meaning with social sites.
It's signing up to get posts from that person
on your wall or homepage. You don't get
to just follow someone or not. You have to
sign up to officially get their posts. As I
understand it, you only get a partial vote
about what you'll see, and that's your vote,
such as it is.


  #12  
Old July 24th 18, 02:49 AM posted to alt.windows7.general
pyotr filipivich
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 752
Default email from Google+?

"Mayayana" on Mon, 23 Jul 2018 19:16:28
-0400 typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
"pyotr filipivich" wrote

| So, I "follow". I also unfollow, especially when their interest
| or entertainment value tanks.
|

It has a specific meaning with social sites.
It's signing up to get posts from that person
on your wall or homepage. You don't get
to just follow someone or not. You have to
sign up to officially get their posts. As I
understand it, you only get a partial vote
about what you'll see, and that's your vote,
such as it is.


Yeah. Just because I "followed" someone, doesn't en I'm going to
see what they wrote. Have to hunt it down.

--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off






All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:08 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 PCbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.