- 2024
- Aug
- 27
It’s interesting how old data just keeps kicking around.
How many of you remember the 2021 LinkedIn data breach?
While not really a “breach” in the traditional sense of the word, it did result in some party scraping the public data of many, many profiles - the one I had at the time included. I’ve since deleted that profile for this one, and quit using the associated email address. I don’t want to give up that email address because it’s fairly desirable and attached to some other services I can’t migrate, so I keep it around.
I check that address every so often, because I know some people that I might like to talk to - and have not for a long long time - may still have it. Much to my amusement, offshore recruiters still email it, talking about how they just found my profile on a job board I don’t use and would I like this 2 month contract job in California for $22 an hour?
However, today was a little different. I’ve received emails from a few people contacting me at that address about how they just found my profile on LinkedIn, and because I was a successful business owner, would I like to consider franchise opportunities? I received one of these today, after a long dry spell without one.
They, of course, didn’t find my profile on LinkedIn using that email address, because it hasn’t existed since 2021. That tells me that the data from the 2021 breach (and possibly the 2016/2012 breach) is still out there, and being sold as fresh, useful data.
I politely emailed this guy and said that I was sorry but he bought bad, stale data, and asked him to remove me from his list since there wasn’t a business at that address, never was, and I was not interested in starting one.
I’ve had marginal success doing this. One guy seemed really confused until I found out where he got the data, and I told him why he had that data. One got very angry with me - that’s not the way to sell yourself. Most never reply. I never hear from any of them again, so I assume they get the message - but if not, it’s on them.
I hope this guy takes the hint. If he asks for more information, I’m happy to share.
What’s the moral of the story? All those “leads” that people are trying to sell you may not be what they seem. Pay attention to what you’re buying, you may be buying the last guy’s garbage packed up all neat in a gift box!