Every now and again you get an email that catches your attention and this one caught my attention.
I have 1000+ blogs on my website each of them has an image and I’m always careful that I purchased them from either a royalty free website or my large personal collection of IMAGES I’ve taken over the years as I have travelled around the globe. I also have a professional photographer as a partner, HELEN : OAKES takes all my personal branding images like the one you see at the top of this post.
I also don’t like people accusing me of doing illegal activities when you haven’t.
The purpose of this blog was just to give you a heads up, hopefully you have searched and found my blog telling you this is a scam.
So I can only assume that the email you got has come via a contact form on your website? They do this to avoid the security rather than sending through an Internet Service Providers SMTP gateway that would normally block or spam filter these kind of emails.
If you’re using a clever system like mine that collects the type of computer they are using and in my case “Browser: Firefox 56.0 on Windows 7”
Version 56.0, first offered to Release channel users on September 28, 2017
Windows 7 is an operating system that was produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009.
So this tells me it didn’t come from an individual using very old technology, it came from a server that is sending out spam. I’m a little surprised that she got through my spam filters to be honest and also that came from an email address “[email protected]” The first thing I normally do is search for the from email address on google to see if this person actually has any other correspondence online, which will help me figure out whether it is from a real person or not and you could do the same.
So the first rule is, as much as you want to, don’t click on the link, because this could potentially install a virus on your computer. If you hold your mouse over the link you may be surprised that you can see the link and the destination is different.
Other spam spotting tips maybe, unless she is gifted with dyslexia like me, always take bad spelling as a scam. And never let them intimidate you.
Hello,
This is Mellie and I am a qualified photographer and illustrator.
I was surprised, frankly speaking, when I came across my images at your web-site. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner’s approval, you must be aware that you could be sued by the copyright owner.
It’s not legal to use stolen images and it’s so selfish!
Here is this document with the links to my images you used at www.dehek.com and my earlier publications to get the evidence of my copyrights.
Download it right now and check this out for yourself:
[Redacted link to the phishing site]
If you don’t remove the images mentioned in the document above within the next few days, I’ll file a complaint against you to your hosting provider stating that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it doesn’t help, for damn sure I am going to take it to court! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.
Two days later…
Hello,
This is Melonie and I am a qualified illustrator.
I was discouraged, to put it nicely, when I saw my images at your web-site. If you use a copyrighted image without an owner’s permission, you should be aware that you could be sued by the copyright holder.
It’s illegal to use stolen images and it’s so сheap!
Take a look at this document with the links to my images you used at www.dehek.com and my earlier publications to obtain the evidence of my legal copyrights.
Download it now and check this out for yourself:
[Redacted link to the phishing site]
If you don’t delete the images mentioned in the file above within the next several days, I’ll file a complaint on you to your hosting provider stating that my copyrights have been severely infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it is not enough, for damn sure I am going to take it to court! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.
And another one…
Hi there!
This is Melitta and I am a qualified photographer and illustrator.
I was baffled, to put it nicely, when I came across my images at your website. If you use a copyrighted image without my consent, you must be aware that you could be sued by the owner.
It’s not legal to use stolen images and it’s so disgusting!
Check out this document with the links to my images you used at hopclear.com and my earlier publications to obtain evidence of my legal copyrights.
Download it right now and check this out for yourself:
[Redacted link to the phishing site]
If you don’t delete the images mentioned in the document above within the next few days, I’ll write a complaint on you to your hosting provider stating that my copyrights have been infringed and I am trying to protect my intellectual property.
And if it doesn’t work, you may be pretty damn sure I am going to report and sue you! And I will not bother myself to let you know of it in advance.”
And another one two weeks later…
Hello there!
My name is Cindy and I am a certified illustrator.
I was confused when I found copyright-protected images owned by myself at your website. If you use a copyrighted images without an owner’s approval, you must know that you could be sued by the copyright holder.
Take a look at this document with the links to my images you used at www.dehek.com and my earlier publications to obtain the evidence of my legal copyrights.
Download it now and check this out for yourself:
[Redacted link to the phishing site]
I believe you have willfully infringed my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. and could be liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 as set forth in Section 504(c)(2) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) therein.
This letter is official notification. I seek the removal of the infringing material referenced above. Please take note as a service provider, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires you, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receipt of this notice. If you do not cease the use of the aforementioned copyrighted material a lawsuit will be commenced against you.
I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Best regards,
Cindy Schultz05/11/2021
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