Hey everyone. I've been lurking here for a little while now and decided to take the dive right before everything started being taken down, and now with everything happening I have been pretty hesitant and paranoid about doing this for the first time.

Anyways, I reached out to a girl through yahoo email (using proton now) who I thought would be a safe bet. She had over 20+ reviews going over a year and is a p411 member. However, in her response there was information about my computer including IP, City, Zip, and even a link to google maps. I was using a VPN so it wasn't my actual info, but is this a common thing? I could see it being a safety precaution against LE, so I'm just not sure.

Thanks

I don't know the answer ... but that's never before stopped me from posting!
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Can you send another Proton mail to a "neutral" automated email?  "Contact us at info@???.news.com" and send an innocuous question: "How much is an annual subscription?"  Email TER!  See if their human or automated replies contain ISP and Location info.  
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If so, I am guessing that the info is added by your VPN or PM to assure you that you were properly anonymized during the initial send.  
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Just a guess.

Thanks, I'll try this. I suspect I'm just being paranoid, as if it was LE or something else I think they'd be smart enough not to just put the information at the end of the response email.

... for everyone who doesn't use a burner phone or VoIP phone for contacting providers:  assume these providers know EVERYTHING about you--name, address (and address history), all family members (including possibly mother and father), criminal record if any, home ownership record etc etc.  It's all just a few clicks away, for a low cost, once someone has your phone number.

So here is something i can help a little with.

Providers utilize many methods to learn as much as we can about you. Its not that we want to know all about you, we want to know are you safe. A few things you should be better to keep in mind.

If you use an email to contact the provider that you have ever posted on a board or forum, odds are it will show up in a google or other search. Especially you guys who post to car and hunting and fishing forums using the same email you use to contact providers.

If you use a contact form to contact a provider, well, it has a place for your email also. So we can look at that. I used to live in Manila. I had to look at every email i get, the header info, that used to give a full path down to exact IP address of sender. Many have changed that now and all you see is closest mail server of the ISP or mail provider.  

It does no harm I tell you these things, because if we dont find out enough about you, we just wont schedule you. With reviews all gone, you can count on us wanting more information right up front. You can hide behind VPN, Router, Burner Phone etc, but if you dont have references or verifiable reviews, you may as well resign yourself to know your going to give out private info until all the dust settle on all the current issues.

Christine

Thanks for your input! I don't mind a provider wanting to know more about me, and they should, for everyone's safety. I was honestly more worried about the LE aspect, especially with everything going on and never having done this.

If this was done by the provider she didn't try and hide it and just put it right in the middle of the email, so I think it was a provider just playing it safe and letting the client know they were, but wanted to see if anyone else has had an experience like this.

Like another poster said it might of just been my VPN as well, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.

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