I received an email from namebasehq.io and I don't quite understand what it says.
I think you have reason to be concerned. Here is why...
My name is Justin Yoo. I'm working on a new project for developers and I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me conduct some user research.
The sender doesn't mention any experience or qualifications you have that prompted him to contact you. The statement is generic, it could apply to anyone. That's typical of spam/scam.
For context, we're building Namebase, a registrar for the Handshake blockchain. Handshake was created by Joseph Poon (creator of the Lightning Network) and aims to decentralize domain names to make them unstoppable.
Is that an area you have experience in ?... if not, his contacting you isn't justified.
If you’re interested, I’d like to hear your thoughts on our project
The de-rigueur ego stroking. Your thoughts are very important to us... they will be processed in the order they were received.
The call shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes and I'm happy to compensate you for your time as well.
This is the good part. For him to compensate you, you have to disclose personal information which could be used for purposes other than compensating you for your time.
Maybe I haven't contacted the right companies but, so far, I've never had a, genuine, above-board, interviewer offer to pay me for my time. Not only that is "unusual", it is totally out of place.
Please let me know either way and looking forward to hearing back!
A little more ego-stroking doesn't hurt.... and please, please be interested, he is so looking forward to giving you money for talking to him. The "either way" will confirm the email address is valid and active. Nice touch.
Best,
Justin Yoo
Gotta give him credit for being polite... very nice!.