Suggestion to not click on potentially harmful invite link in cryptic email from James Capshew

[Arvind Gopu]

Dear SIREN public forum members,

I am sending a quick apology/warning in which I wish to recommend that you DO NOT CLICK on an invite link from James Capshew sent to this mailing list (see screencap below).

I acknowledge I don't know how warranted this warning is but I am erring on the side of caution. 

I am sending out a quick apology note in regards to a somewhat cryptic email from James Capshew that just contained a link to an invitation card that this forum was BCCed on without any details as to who the inviter is or what the event is about. It's possible it's a legit event and an invite that was sent intentionally by James, or it could be a phishing attempt. I've sent a private note to James suggesting he resend the email with more details upfront if it's indeed legitimate, or to avoid sending such an invite to a mass email list. I am going to delete his original email from the mailing list archives for completeness sake. 

Please reach out to con...@sirensolar.org if you have any questions.

-a

PS: screenshot of the email I am talking about 

[James Capshew]

I was hacked. Sorry!

Jim

JHC mobile

On Feb 11, 2026, at 9:43 PM, Arvind Gopu <arvin...@gmail.com> wrote:



<image.png>

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[laurie klinger]

It is definitely a scam.  I got the same invite from a different person and group and she confirmed it is a scam.

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[Nan McKinley]

Yes, and I did try to open it since it came from a trusted neighborhood friend as part of a trusted org-  and then it may have invited everyone on my contact list...someone from church got an invite from me. I have signed out of everything and changed my passwords, etc. Anything else I should do?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/sirensolar.org/d/msgid/forum/CAFvwTyFN33ZMe6XqWjP9so5TGBZ8skxnjET3xwD9zqOvbFYciQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Arvind Gopu]

Hi all - here is a public service announcement / pro-tip list sort of thing in case it's helpful - most of this will work on computers but probably not as well on smart phones (probably 50/50 on devices on iPads).

• The simplest way to protect yourself against these kinds of phishing attempts is to NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS on emails. 
• For e.g. if you get an email purportedly from your bank or credit card company stating XYZ, you can easily open a new tab in your browser, go to that entity's website yourself and login... to check for XYZ. Instead of clicking on the link to do this.
• If it's an invite or the like from a trusted friend, you can always check in with them "hey did you send me this?" via a different medium (e.g. on Signal or texting)
• If you really want to open the link then follow a few simple guidelines:
• Do not allow displaying of images on emails unless you're 100% sure it's an OK send and OK message (i.e you've confirmed with your friend it's a legit message) - see second screenshot below for an example of what I am talking about
• Hover over the link on the email without clicking on it and either right click to copy the link OR just watch the bottom left corner of the browser (the location of this might vary depending on the browser)
• For e.g. the email that was sent pretending to be James.. when I hover over "View invitation" it has a weird looking link "wevi.digital/Event"
• 
  
• Another one of these that I received pretending to be Nan Mckinley ...  when I hover over "View invitation" it has a weird looking link "youreinvited.cool" 
• 
  
• One could open an Incognito window or a Private browser window and try typing these URLs if they are really curious ... 
• If you REALLY insist on opening links always open them in  an Incognito window or a Private browser window and always copy the link and paste them (i.e don't click)
• These tips are not foolproof but will help you not fall for as many phishes.
• Tangentially, be sure to have a high quality ad-blocker plugin/extension installed on your browser - this will help in more ways than you could ever imagine (so much so I think it will be life changing :-)) Here are a couple I think work pretty well... 
• https://adguard.com/en/adguard-browser-extension/overview.html
• https://ublockorigin.com/  (for chrome users: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ublock-origin-lite/ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh?hl=en ) 
• Ensure these plugins are enabled in InCognito / Private Browser mode too.

Best wishes,

-a

Yes, and I did try to open it since it came from a trusted neighborhood friend as part of a trusted org-  and then it may have invited everyone on my contact list...someone from church got an invite from me. I have signed out of everything and changed my passwords, etc. Anything else I should do?

[Victoria Hilkevitch]

I was too, as were several of my friends.  Also an invitation like this one.

Victoria

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/sirensolar.org/d/msgid/forum/CAA-%2B7uyv7tTEixPkzGRE-6p2ouDa0hu2D4yMEmY79_qNnk5DUg%40mail.gmail.com.

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Victoria Hilkevitch, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita

University of Indianapolis