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February 28

Spam conference invitations

I frequently get spam emails to my work account inviting me to give speeches at conferences in Japan (usually in Tokyo or Sapporo). Despite being held (or supposedly held) in Japan, the emails are always signed by someone with an English first name and a Chinese surname (e.g. today I received one from a "Ms. Elsa Wang"). This combination (Japanese location, English first name, Chinese surname) is so consistent that I'm thinking that there must be a reason for it. Does anyone know what this would be? Iapetus (talk) 09:46, 28 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

From personal experience, it's quite common for Chinese and Japanese people in multinational but predominantly English-speaking companies, or who otherwise mingle with English speakers, to adopt a "Western" forename that English speakers find easier to remember and pronounce. In Hong Kong and Singapore (where I used to live) such names are often officially bestowed at birth – see under Personal name#China and Korea. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 12:36, 28 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As a separate issue, issuing invitations to fake conferences, for which various advance fees will be solicited, is a well known scam – see World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology#Conferences. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 12:36, 28 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can make out, WCAM is legit. These congresses are organized by BIT Congress, who declare themselves "the largest company in conference organizing and business operating in the world." Their company address is in Dalian, China. There seems to be a connection with the World High Technology Society, which "hosts" conferences – whatever that means – and until a few years ago, these were held in China, but they appear to have shifted to Japan for the venues. The staff of these organizations is mainly Chinese. --Lambiam 14:20, 28 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

See also this email exchange. Clearly, there is a predatory aspect. Also, I cannot find published proceedings of these conferences, which is highly suspect. --Lambiam 14:32, 28 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Lambiam, Purely for curiosity, since I have no skin in this game, by WCAM do you mean World Congress of Advanced Materials (name found by websearch)? (Our article WCAM is clearly not relevant.) How is this relevant to the OP or to the article I linked? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 10:16, 2 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. The relevance is that Ms. Elsa Wang signs as "Organizing Commission of WCAM-202X". The telephone number she gives is a Chinese number. --Lambiam 10:38, 2 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I hadn't mentioned it by name, but yes, it was "World Congress of Advanced Materials (WCAM-2023)" that had sent me the latest e-mail. But note that in the linked example it was a Ms. Elsa Xing that was the contact, not Wang as in my case. Iapetus (talk) 15:01, 2 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fairy Nuff.

Speaking generally, and this may not apply to either of you, I would think that if someone is plausibly qualified to speak at an international STEM conference, they would already be a member of a relevant academic and/or trade association that could give professional advice as to the bona fides of a particular conference: if they are not so qualified, the invitation would likely be a spam phishing attempt. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.55.125 (talk) 19:04, 2 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]