Many times I’ve received enquiries through Artstation which are obviously fake.
The ones that puzzle me are always some RandomUnremarkableName + Number saying they’re thrilled about my work and want to purchase it. No links, no job offers, no nothing.
Real people always give context as to which piece they want and why or something. I just ignore these weird generic fishy ones and move on.
So what’s the deal with this? Are they just hoping to get my email address so they can sell it as part of a spam mailing list? Or is there something else?
In the 2000s I worked in IT and we hosted a spam filter. Back then people would send out seemingly harmless email, about Jack’s golf game or the picnic on Sunday, and their goal was to build up their domain’s reputation as a legitimate sender. Then one day they’ll send out spam and it’ll get through the filter until the spam filter catches on and cuts off that domain.