Question for fellow bloggers

So, in the past week or so I’ve gotten a surge of followers. Well, what for me is a surge — eleven — but here’s the thing . . . 

None of them are bloggers and they all have strange email names and they are all from @outlook.com.

By strange names I mean they could be names but if you try and guess how they might break up (first name, middle initial, surname or a combination of those) you get absolutely no hits in Google, and if it is a hit, it’s for acronyms of other stuff.

At first, I thought nothing of it as I occasionally get subscribers based just on an email address and no corresponding or associated blogs. But, these are all outlook emails and all have long names(?) that might be interpreted as from a foreign country (Slavic, Scandinavian, and for two of them, possibly Latin American) but not quite anything that’s immediately recognizable.  

I don’t want to post any of them here because they might be legitimate emails, but I’ll make a few up as an example:

palomaftjolves @ outlook.com

estevezgxmurielks @ outlook.com

salazarjxlilkatia @ outlook.com

I want to stress that I just made those up and it’s not anything I’ve seen (but I soon might). The names are all long and they are close to sounding legit except for these extra letters thrown in there. 

Some anonymizer programs let you come up with temporary emails you can use to register in places that you then don’t want to hear from again, but it’s not usually an outlook.com email; it’s their own servers address.  

So, am I the only one or have others experienced a similar uptick in subscriptions from outlook.com emails?

As far as I can tell, I’ve not had an increase in traffic (if anything, it’s been steadily dropping off) and I don’t have an increase in comments (if anything, they’ve been steadily dropping off) and none of the new followers have left any comments or “likes”.

I’m not overly concerned other than it seems strange and hence suspicious. I don’t know if this is part of some new kind of scam but if it is, I can’t figure out the play. 

It could be these are all from a given group of people who know each other (i.e. The Long and Strange Outlook Email Club or TLASOEC, for short) and are starting a cult following of my blog (hey, it could happen! . . . I’m a charismatic stable genius, don’t you know). 

I suspect it’s something else, and it has piqued my curiosity. 

If you’ve recently experienced something similar, let me know. 

If you are one of my new TLASOEC subscribers, let me know that you are real and truly enamored with my meager offerings. Or, leave me hanging, but I’ll stop worrying about it shortly, so strike while the iron is hot. 

And now, here’s the end product of me playing around with the first photo:

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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Note: if you are not reading this blog post at DisperserTracks.com, know that it has been copied without permission, and likely is being used by someone with nefarious intention, like attracting you to a malware-infested website.  Could be they also torture small mammals.

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Please, if you are considering bestowing me recognition beyond commenting below, refrain from doing so.  I will decline blogger-to-blogger awards.   I appreciate the intent behind it, but I prefer a comment thanking me for turning you away from a life of crime, religion, or making you a better person in some other way.  That would mean something to me.

If you wish to know more, please read below.

About awards: Blogger Awards
About “likes”:   Of “Likes”, Subscriptions, and Stuff

Note: to those who may click on “like”, or rate the post; if you do not hear from me, know that I am sincerely appreciative, and I thank you for noticing what I do.

. . .  my FP ward  . . . chieken shit.

Finally, if you interpret anything on this blog as me asking or wanting pity, sympathy, or complaining about my life, or asking for help and advice, know you’re  likely missing my subtle mix of irony, sarcasm, and humor.