I received an email today from someone whose name I did not recognise; with the following real-sounding subject line:

Call Today/Tomorrow?... Fwd: Can I Call You This Week?... If So What's The Best Day And Time?

It turned out to be spam after all – yet another inauthentic form email complete with classic spamerisms like “You probably get emails like this all the time”, "Dedicated To Your Success", a glitzy sales pitch, and links. (Yeah, like I click on links in unsolicited emails from unknown people.)

What really stood out was the multiple requests to call me.

I sent you an email below on the 25th of August last year but I never received a response from you ...

Would it be ok if I called sometime this week for a few minutes …

I have your number as 61413337744 – is that right? Is it ok if I called you for a quick 5 minute chat? Alternatively, you can get me on 1300 XXX XXX if you’d like to call me instead. …

I have not seen this before in a spam message. The inclusion of my phone number felt especially dodgy.

"You don’t know me. I don’t know you. But I have your number. Can I call you and sell you something?"

NO!