Email Identity Check

Got this email from Michelle Bostock.

Hello Goh!

I came across your blog while looking for rockstars and was wondering if you would be interested in chatting about openings we have here at Facebook. You do have 15 minutes to spare, right? Tell me this is my lucky day! Time for a change!!! Come work for us in Palo Alto, CA!

Michelle Bostock | Facebook Recruiting |
1601 S. California ave. | Palo Alto, Ca | 94304
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/01/18/businessinsider-facebook-engineers-get-incredible-freedom-in-their-jobs-2011-1.DTL

So, I wondered whether this is a valid email or spam. Here's what I did (and how you should do too!) to check the email sources.

Step 1: Quick check on Google for similar email

Just do a quick check on the contents of the email, see whether anyone got the same email or not. The search returned zero result, except my own post by the time you clicked this link.

(: Passed.

Step 2: Email Sender Check

The sender appears to be from @fb.com domain. Did a whois check and found out that fb.com is indeed owned by Facebook, Inc.

(: Passed.

Step 3: Profile Identity Check

Did a quick Google and found out that there actually a Facebook employee named "Michelle Bostock". And the FB account is affiliated with FB, and Google & Linked-In too.

(: Passed. (Not that important).

Step 4: Email Header Check

Did a check on the email header/source, its from "SC-MBX01-5.TheFacebook.com". The domain is indeed from Facebook, Inc.

(: Passed.


Conclusion

The email content looks like one of the spam email template. But the sources seems to suggest that its from valid sources. The possibilities are:

1. Its a valid email, or
2. Sender (FB employee) account got hacked, or
3. Facebook mailing system security breach.

I've email back. So, lets wait and see the reply :)


UPDATE (April 02): The email is indeed valid :)