AI-generated replies flood security blog’s newsletter subscription flow

Bruce Schneier, a public-interest technologist and longtime security blogger, reported that his monthly newsletter subscription flow began receiving an unusual volume of replies to its automated confirmation emails starting last weekend. The replies consistently praised the newsletter in identical phrasing, such as “Your emails are a game-changer” and “Thank you for the positive impact your emails have had on my life.”

Schneier noted that the sender addresses—all Gmail accounts with randomized strings—had never actually subscribed to his newsletter, indicating the messages were unsolicited. He initially suspected pig-butchering schemes, where scammers aim to prolong conversations to extract money or sensitive information, but no replies were received to his responses, leaving the intent unclear.

The pattern suggests the use of an AI system to generate and send templated replies at scale, a technique that could be used to probe targets, validate email lists, or refine social-engineering scripts before launching more targeted attacks. Schneier’s observation is consistent with recent reporting on AI-driven social engineering, including scams that impersonate individuals or organizations to deceive recipients.