How NOT to approach a blogger

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about what seemed like a pyramid scheme. This post was based on a fellow named Kash Shahzada, who approached me about working with him. With that, I took some time to look into what his company was, and more about the individual that was publicly available on the Internet. Since that encounter, I’ve heard nothing until yesterday, when I received an email from someone who appeared to be Kash.

Here’s his email message:

Since the original article, Kash appears to have made more if his information private, including his domain’s Whois information. It made sense he would contact me in an effort to purge more of these details.

While there are likely several million ways to approach someone who has written about you – it’s never smart to suggest that they may have been responsible for your problems. All the information I obtained was public, and likely your choice to make that information public is what you should blame. A robbery is a serious and unfortunate event. Suggesting I’m to blame – in a message that asks for assistance – is going to guarantee I not help you. This makes you look like an asshole. I don’t like to help assholes.

You are, however, a person. I can understand why you might want this information private. If I were in your shoes, I might want the same. I will remove that personal information from the post for you because I understand what you want. The new image will remove references to an apartment number and address. Hopefully that helps you on an Internet that tends to forget very little.