Just got a sponsor pitch from a company that provides game streaming software. As I've been flirting with the idea of starting a Twitch channel, I read it with interest.

But the email seemed ... off. So (in an admitted bit of procrastination) I decided to fact-check it. 1/

The first thing I noticed was that the "signature" on the email didn't match the typed name below- and both were archaic-sounding names.

Googling them, along with the company's claimed city, one name has zero results. The other last belonged to a woman who died in 2013. /2

Fortunately the sig included a photo of the sender, whatever her real name is. So I did a reverse image search.

Incredibly, this same person is also a surgical pathologist, a pastor and a security consultant. That, or she's a stock photo model.

(Hint: it's that last one) /3

Lastly, I decided to scope out the company's address, also handily included in the signature.

It's a house in a residential subdivision.

(Nothing wrong with that! I've been working from home for over a decade. But in concert with the rest, it's not a great look.) /4

Finally, I checked their website. And -good news!- they don't seem malicious.

This seems to be the case of a legit company making a clumsy pitch through a virtual character that it thinks will be better received than one of its own (apparently Russian) employees. /5

I don't hold it against them; communication across cultures is hard. Nonetheless I think the moral is: creators, be cautious when choosing your sponsors. A company whose very first communication is signed by a made-up person? That's not someone I want to do business with. /END