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I got an email inviting me to a study as it appears I set the settings for it. However I am skeptical to its realness as:

  • All links do not point to a SO/SE site, but instead to a cryptic link for a site called "pstmrk.it" and "rallyuxr.com".
  • There is a monetary incentive given (with an asterisk going nowhere?), which seems rather uncharacteristic of SO. The subject line reads "Tell us about your experience on Stack Overflow ($60.00 for 60 minutes)"

Otherwise the e-mail appears convincing as the sender seems to be [email protected], but as far as I know that can be faked as well. Here is how it looks:

the layout of the mail

The mail was received on Sep the 6th 2024 (Friday) at 14:35:04 UTC. Past communications with SO/SE did not include any external links.

The header: enter image description here

Some of the meta data I could fetch:

SPF: Pass with domain pm-bounces.stackoverflow.com"
DKIM: Pass with domain stackoverflow.com"
DMARC: Pass

Should one click a link it will be blocked by tracking protection (in this case uBlock Origin): Blocked "Powered by Rally" link So is the mail/links real?

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  • What's your mail provider, Google, Yahoo etc.? Would you be able to post a copy of the E-Mail header (metadata)? That would potentially contain valuable information about the rout taken by the mail and it's possible actual origin.
    – W.O.
    Commented Sep 8 at 18:30
  • 1
    See also this question.
    – cocomac
    Commented Sep 8 at 19:15
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    “the sender seems to be [email protected], but as far as I know that can be faked as well” it shouldn’t really be possible any more. If you’re using a modern email provider and they’re using a modern email server/configuration, SPF/DKIM/DMARC/TLA/WTF should ensure that the email is from the claimed sender. So from what you’ve said, this email is legitimate.
    – Jeremy
    Commented Sep 8 at 19:19
  • The sender address seems ok to me. But regardless even if an email sender is legitimate, one still has to be a bit cautious with unexpected emails as e.g. the senders system could have been compromised and be currently being misused. What primarily put me of in this case were the URLs did not go to an known SO/SE domain but instead to "pstmrk.it". (all links point there: signup, unsubscribe,edit email settings & privacy). Also the overall phrasing sounds a bit like bait a la "Here is money for easy work"-type of spam (which can just be an unfortunate wording in this case).
    – A-Tech
    Commented Sep 8 at 20:59
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    Might've been over-eager on my retagging to status-review. A CM can just drive-by and cosign Makyen's answer if it's accurate.
    – Spevacus Mod
    Commented Sep 9 at 1:10
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    AFAIK, pstmrk.it is Postmark, and looks like SE has verified their domain.
    – Meta Andrew T.
    Commented Sep 9 at 5:45
  • @Spevacus will accept the answer officially when that happens.
    – A-Tech
    Commented Sep 9 at 12:26
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    Makyen's answer below is correct @A-Tech ;)
    – JNat StaffMod
    Commented Nov 6 at 3:53

1 Answer 1

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Yes, Stack Exchange uses those domains in recent messages they send about participating in research. Older such emails used different domains.

Looking back at a recent email I received about Stack Exchange research, both of those domains are present. The monetary incentive offered in the email you've shown is consistent with the amount that Stack Exchange typically offers for such participation.

I've participated in a few such research efforts. I've gone through the full process from receiving a similar email (different research topics), responding to it, participating in the research on the day/time, through payment. The research is typically a voice and/or video call/conference (video on your part has always been stated as optional), sometimes with other interactive tools. Payment is usually a couple/few days (older email stated 3 to 5 business days) after the research day/time and is handled by an external provider. The payment can be received as a virtual gift card from a substantial number of stores/websites, or as at least one of a Visa or MasterCard virtual debit card (with the possibility of obtaining a physical card).

You can enable/disable receiving research invitation emails by going to your profile "Edit Email Settings" page and turning on/off "Research: Invitations".

Note: I have sometimes had some of their emails end up in spam filtering. If you're expecting one (e.g., the one after the research giving you a link to the payment), then I suggest checking your spam filtering.

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  • What were you asked in the interview?
    – Тyma Gaidash
    Commented Sep 8 at 22:54
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    @TymaGaidash The ones I've participated in have been for a few different topics. I consider the details private. I know that at least for some of them I've been asked to keep them private. I don't recall if that's the case for all of them, or if some of them might be OK to talk about now, but private is my default setting. :) In general, they have been about ways that Stack Exchange can improve, focused on the specific area which the researcher was interested in. That tends to make them about potential future things, which SE has, reasonably, asked to be private.
    – Makyen
    Commented Sep 8 at 23:02

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