I have received the infamous Email message that I copy below. However, I am not at all sure that the names contained in the original message are really related to the author/s mentioned there. The messages could have been written to dirt the reputation of someone else (thus, I am not copying the names of the people in the message, there are two names and they correpond to research authors). Have you received something like this? Do you know the aim of these messages? Is it a new phishing scheme to ask (later on) to unscrupulous people data of a bank account?
The message:
Seeking Collaboration for Citing Academic Papers
Dear Professor,
I hope you are doing well!
I am reaching out to propose a potential collaboration. I have numerous research papers that need citations. If you could reference my papers in your work, I would be happy to provide a token of appreciation.
My collection includes works from various authors, all within similar research areas, so it is possible to cite multiple papers in a single publication.
I look forward to your positive response and the possibility of a long-term collaboration.
Best regards