A journalist in New York began receiving emails from acquaintances he had not spoken to in years asking whether he was hosting a party. Eric Umansky, who was on Cape Cod in April for his nephew's bar mitzvah, learned that messages had circulated about a Paperless Post invitation for a "Special Private Dinner Party" at 7 pm on May 2. He had not sent the invitation and had no plans to host. He later posted on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks to tell people he was not having a party and should not be visited.

Umansky turned out to be an early target of an email scam that has since spread more widely. In May, after receiving increased reports, the Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert about scammers sending unexpected messages that appear to come from well-known invitation platforms such as Evite or Paperless Post. The agency said some messages ask recipients to enter an email username and password to view event details, while others ask them to enter a phone number and share a special code to RSVP. Umansky was unsure how his email was compromised despite using two-factor authentication.

Phishing scams have grown over two decades and remain among the largest security risks for individuals and companies. Email scams can be highly sophisticated, using social engineering tactics that create urgency or fear and exploit personal relationships, an approach known as spear phishing. Artificial intelligence has made such deceptions harder to identify.

In some cases, the fake invitations have had an unintended effect: prompting people to check whether a message was genuine and, in the process, restarting relationships that had gone quiet. Umansky said he has reconnected over the past several months with old friends and colleagues over lunch and by text, and spent an hour on Zoom with a former coworker in Mexico City he had not spoken with in more than a decade. He said the experience left him wondering whether it was a net positive.

A 2024 study in the journal Communications Psychology surveyed 2,400 adults in the US, UK and Canada about social withdrawal. It found that people sometimes avoid contacting old friends because they assume the other person does not want to hear from them or because they expect the interaction to be awkward. The research noted that work and productivity demands in North America have led people to reduce social connections and social time, along with other life changes such as parenthood or moving to a new city.

Lara Aknin, a psychology professor at Simon Fraser University, has researched hesitation about reconnecting with lapsed contacts. She said only 30 percent of people reach out to an old friend even when doing so is made as easy as possible through a desirable, feasible and low-risk contact. In the case of email scams, she said, people are motivated to contact an old friend because the scam provides an excuse or social cover, and they may even feel slightly grateful for the opportunity.

The trend is not limited to Umansky. Larry Persily wrote in the Wrangell Sentinel, a local newspaper in Alaska, that he heard from a friend of more than 30 years. One source confirmed to WIRED that they are back in touch with an ex they had not spoken to in years after receiving a fake invitation. The FBI estimates scammers tricked Americans out of $21 billion in 2025 alone, with help from AI.

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