Serious question, boost for maximum responses please? Trying to learn something here

Would you be worried that someone was trying to scam you or was fishy if they didn't use a Gmail address for their email? For example, they used Yahoo, Tutanota, Proton Mail, etc?

Yes
6.7%
No
93.3%
Poll ended at .
@literalgrill Only for some of them? Like I gave up on Yahoo/SBC because all I was getting there was spam.
@literalgrill on masto I feel like non-google accounts are the norm

@yeenbean @literalgrill
i see it even the opposite way:

People who do NOT use GMail (or Google Forms etc.) wake the hope that they might have spent some thoughts to understand what privacy is.

Google does scan and read everything that you sent and receive per GMail, i dont want to feed this corporation with my personal data

@literalgrill If that was literally the only factor, no.
@literalgrill @mmcd if i am emailing gmail users i’ll often use a gmail account to avoid black and grey listing since google doesn’t like to deliver not google email at least in my small experience
@mnw This was unironically part of what I was worried/wondering about, thank you!

@mnw: Yep, they do. One of the reasons why I think that every GMail user has made a very bad choice. If someone uses GMail, they declare that they are fine with not receiving e-mail from me. I don't care anymore about people with such a bad judging capability.

Cc @literalgrill @mmcd

@literalgrill

It depends on what they're asking. If it's not business related then it doesn't matter what email address the email comes from. If on the other hand it is business related then it's incredibly suspicious if it comes from a gmail, yahoo or other free-to-register email.

@literalgrill No. I have people in my life that: use Hotmail accounts from prior to Microsoft acquiring them, AOL and Yahoo! as those accounts were created in the 90s and they still work today; doctors who still use Earthlink.net as their primary account, etc.

I used my Gmail account as my main between 2004-2006. The account is solely used as a YouTube account now.

Domain/Host isn't a way to sus out scams when there are valid uses.

@literalgrill I've gotten spam from gmail accounts so 🤷

@literalgrill generally the domain name, if sane, is less important than whatever is behind the @

So

[email protected] would be a red flag.

@literalgrill it's usually obvious from the body of the message if it's a scam
@literalgrill The exact opposite, actually, as most people - especially in a business or activist networking setup- I would presume a problem if they used a Gmail address, because that company & email setup has so many problems. #BigTech

@literalgrill

I would be really happy, if they used protonmail/tutanota

@literalgrill yahoo or ISP-given domains, for sure worth being skeptical of
paid secure email domains? less so, for sure (feels like people trying to scam aren't willing to put in the time/money to setup a burner account for that? maybe im being naive)
@literalgrill protonmail is kind of suspicious

@evilmicrowizard @literalgrill @Olie

I've just seen some shady people use it for shady purposes i guess

@komikymi @literalgrill @Olie What sort of shady purposes...? I'd be interested to know because I've found Protonmail pretty responsive to contacts and it might be worth reporting it to them.
@literalgrill I would be a bit more concerned if it was their own domain, but not if it's a proper email service like Tutanota or ProtonMail
And I use Gmail (because I'm lazy)
@iagondiscord @literalgrill They can have their own domain hosted by a commercial provider though.
@literalgrill some i know use custom domains, some use protonmail, yahoo, etc. honestly I just use Gmail myself bcs it's what I typically use to make throwaway email accounts to make multiple accounts for websites, games etc and stuff's easy to sync. shrug
@literalgrill i would be more worried if it were a gmail address
@literalgrill Not really. Some people avoid google. Some just go for other places. My mom has had a yahoo email address for years, for example.
@literalgrill having it sent from gmail would probably make me more suspicious if anything.

@literalgrill i’m confused by the question. does it imply that using gmail is trustworthy, or using non-gmail trustworthy?

for me a scam emails often look very obvious because they are from people i never talked with, and also their low quality, and the domain doesn’t have to be an indicator. though, per my observation, free email providers like google are often source of spams (like), rather than paid ones or invitation-only ones, or community-run ones

@literalgrill I have an own domain with an lgbt tld and learned that some are blocking the tld for sexual content 🤦‍♀️

@literalgrill: I'm getting suspicious _if_ someone uses GMail as their primary e-mail provider. For me, using and especially trusting GMail is usually a strong sign for a bad judging capability.

Yahoo! has bad reputation with me, too, but Tutanota has a good reputation for me. With ProtonMail I have mixed feelings: I like what they're trying to do for privacy, but I strongly dislike the way they're doing it.

Other mail providers with good reputation for me: Mailbox.org, Riseup, Immerda, …

@literalgrill
I don't trust people using GMail as their primary mail provider, if that's what you are asking ...

@literalgrill I for one am more likely to distrust a gmail address, if used instead of an address from the person's own project's domain.

Google give email addresses to any old scammers.

@literalgrill I do regularly say "Yahoo email? Really?" or AOL, MSN, etc when someone uses one of those domains, but I don't find them inherently suspicious.
@literalgrill I'd actually feel a bit more trust if they used ProtonMail!

@literalgrill

If the question is: "do you put more faith in a gmail user being a non-scammer than the other services", then No...

Most cold contact that asks for something should be treated with suspicion...

@literalgrill I don't consider a gmail address offers any trust.
@literalgrill I am more suspicious of emails that originate from GMail than otherwise.
@literalgrill I gave up caring about the "quality" of an email domain in the... 90s.

@literalgrill

Disposable gmail accounts are more suspicious than most ...

@literalgrill Not at all. I use a gmail address. My wife still uses a yahoo address. Works for her, she's not super computer nerdy and HAS to have a gmail to be cool. There is a reason that email works as it is (decentralized) and there are other email servers besides gmail.
@literalgrill I'd argue Proton mail is more trustworthy than gmail.
@literalgrill Quibble: for Yahoo and Tutanota I might be suspicious, for Protonmail less so.

@literalgrill (my background is in IT, programming, and learning cybersecurity.)

IMO it doesn't matter what email provider the person uses. What matters is the content of the email and the genuine nature of the content.
The emails of large companies can be mimicked using unicode characters or even manipulated to send malicious mail.
Also I know WHY people use proton mail and other smaller email providers.
Also I got art commissions from people with weird usernames all the time. *shrugs*

@literalgrill I believe all emails are scams by default.
@literalgrill Only some, like I had a client who used one that is billed as a throwaway email domain which made me suspicious. Luckily they were genuine.
@literalgrill I mean, my first instinct tends to be "good on you, not being part of the Google megalith" but I also think, "domain names and email hosting aren't that expensive, actually."
@literalgrill they're less popular than Gmail, for sure. But last I checked, Gmail is still free and just as susceptible to exploitation by scammers. So I don't really have any reason to trust one over the other.

@literalgrill more concerned about the part on the left side of the @ myself.

A random collection of letters and numbers, or firstname bunchonumbers, regardless of what the host is, is getting way less trust than an actual screen name.

@literalgrill Serious response: I get suspicious when the email does come from Gmail.
Almost every legitimate person or business I deal with either runs their own mailservers or uses something like protonmail.

Gmail is the primary source of spam and primarily a source of spam.

@literalgrill even tho I wouldn't be worried with those listed, if I see one that I don't know I probably would be worried.
@literalgrill the opposite. I filter gmail deliberately. Same for hotmail, outlook.com, yahoo. Free email providers are sus

@literalgrill
Not sure what you are trying to "learn" here, but I rarely look at their email address and think scammer. I usually leave that to the body and subject of the email.

Over the years / decades I have seen perfectly legitimate email addresses that were scams and I have seen suspicious email addresses that were legit.

@literalgrill Considering how many scams I receive from Gmail addresses, I don't see why any other domain would be worse?

Hell, 95% of spear-phishing E-mails at work are from Gmail. Scammers know Gmail messages get reliably delivered and people trust Google for some reason.

@literalgrill I use protonmail because I value my privacy and security. Gmail is just the default. Just because its the default doesn't mean its safe or secure. I get more spam from gmail addresses than any other.
@literalgrill my oldest email is an AOL 😂. Not sure why I still have that one (gets way too much spam)
I don't send anything with it though
And I'd be surprised to get anything from an AOL unless it's my mom

@literalgrill I have certain prejudices towards different mail providers. Yahoo, HotMail usually trigger a suspicion reflex, but that also depends on what the content of the message is.

Usually, I treat unsolicited emails from Gmail accounts to be highly suspect, more so than any other provider simply because everyone knows about Gmail and Google probably does everything in their power to keep their domains out of block lists.

@literalgrill I have never seen someone use Gmail in my life
@literalgrill Or even have their own domain!