Isn’t technology wonderful?
If you have recently subscribed to this ADHD blog, you are most welcome here. I hope you will find it useful and enjoyable. And I hope you will make comments. I love the comments.
But:
I’m no longer sending individual welcoming messages, because I’ve suddenly been flooded with new subscriptions. At first, I was delighted, but I quickly realized that they were fake. Spam.
Question O the Day number one:
What in the hell is going on?
The links below give some information, but I don’t totally understand them. That’s nothing new.
Apparently, this has been happening for some years. I was totally unaware. (I recently wrote a pretty good song- “We’re over the hill, out of the loop, and our warranty has expired.”)
Strategy:
Don’t believe everything you read. Especially these days, when lying has become routine, facts no longer matter, and half the posts on Facebook are from the Russians.
Question O the Day number two:
What are they getting out of this?
Question O the Day number three:
Do you think having ADHD makes us more naïve, gullible, vulnerable, and susceptible to scams?
Quote O the Day:
Trust everyone and always shuffle the deck.
Links:
@addstrategies #adhd #add @dougmkpdp
What?
I do not appreciate it
ADDadultstrategies 
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Hi Doug,
I am in my early 50s and was diagnosed with ADHD only a few months ago. I have read your first book; thank you for writing it.
With respect to your questions I’ll put in my two cents worth, although I’m no expert. I hope it’s not too long.
QUESTION 1 (and 2): What’s going on:
As I’m not sure what you do or don’t understand, I’ll write lots and hope it makes some sense.
Some people have written automatic programs (spambots) which hunt through the internet and sign up to anything they can. If they do this a lot to someone in particular they can cause their website to be overloaded so the owner’s legitimate business grinds to a halt.
Sometimes the aim is to take over the website. I’m not sure why this would be of value, unless the address is one they can sell. On the other hand, I have seen a blog taken over and weird stuff posted. I guess, like hoax emails, such posts could get loyal followers to click on a malicious link.
Some people who write blogs earn (part of) their income from it. In this case it is important for them to collect statistics on the type of people who read their blog, what posts are most popular, etc., so that they can tailor what they write and/or advertise to their audience. If they get too many false signups, etc., it can send them in the wrong direction and destroy their income.
In your case it seems an email overload is your biggest problem. They are clogging up your inbox, which means you could, possibly, miss an important email. They are also stopping you from doing what you want to do (sending individual welcome emails). Further, when you send email, some addresses may be real but unconnected to the bot, meaning you are effectively sending spam. That’s why a lot of sites now send out confirmation emails that you have to click to complete the signup process.
With regards to ReCAPTCHA, you have probably come across it or something similar. These protections get people to do something it is difficult for bots to do, e.g. tick a box; enter a letter and number code written in a difficult to read way; select pictures containing cars, or whatever. As the bots become more sophisticated, the protections do too.
QUESTION 2: What do people get out of it:
Malicious enjoyment or profit. There are a lot of nasty people out there, although I still think there are many more good than bad. Unfortunately it is now easier for the nasty to get their hooks in because they can so easily extend them across the world.
QUESTION 3: Vulnerability
I think some ADHDers might be more vulnerable, but it would likely depend on the “brand” of ADHD they have. There does, however, seem to be a link between age and vulnerability. I think it’s just because older people are less aware of what can be done and are, perhaps, more trusting. Here in New Zealand there are now ads on TV, aimed specifically at the older generation, encouraging people to stop and think before responding to a scary email “asking” them to immediately provide their banking details.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Irene
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Irene
thank you for the explanation. I think I get it, more or less. And I agree, getting old is a booger. Hope the book has been useful to you and that the blog will be also.
Thank you for commenting
Doug
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