Nope. Sounds like someone used your address.
this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
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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.
The Zionism lobby is underhanded enough that I’d say it’s likely a certainty.
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.
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.
My personal emails certainly aren't being used without my knowledge. That would require a pretty extensive cover up and a 2FA workaround
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.
Same with physical addresses.
That's not giving anyone access to your email.
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.
Have I Been Pwnd is one I use for this, as far as I know it's legit.
Troy Hunt is a good person
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.
I would.
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.