February 4, 2026
Who ordered the email tsunami?
Tell HN: Another round of Zendesk email spam
Inboxes flood with “Activate account” emails — GitHub users cry sign‑up bomb
TLDR: A fresh surge of Zendesk-routed “Activate account” emails is swamping inboxes, especially for people with public GitHub addresses. Commenters suspect a “sign‑up bomb” tactic to hide real alerts, mixing worry with meme-fueled eye‑rolls—and warning that Zendesk emails may get buried in spam right when they’re needed.
HN is in full freak‑out mode after another wave of Zendesk‑routed “Activate account for…” emails slammed inboxes. The original poster says they got ~50 in a day and that mail filters are already shoving most into spam, predicting Zendesk’s sender reputation (how email services judge trust) is taking a beating. The chorus quickly formed: “Same here,” say multiple users, especially those with public GitHub emails exposed to the web.
Confusion turned to theorycrafting fast. One commenter dropped the hottest take: this smells like a “sign‑up bomb”—when attackers flood you with legit-looking signup emails to drown out real security alerts. Translation: bury the warning, sneak in the break‑in. Others are just bewildered, reporting messages addressed to goofy, made‑up service names at their domain—“reddit@,” “pog,” “kekw,” “xqc”—like a troll picked the alias list from a Twitch chat.
There’s also side‑drama: one user vented about crypto scam emails showing up from an Italian ISP’s address block (their words, not ours), adding to the general “my inbox is a crime scene” vibe. While there’s no hard proof about who’s behind it, the mood is clear: people feel targeted, annoyed, and worried. If Zendesk’s pipes are being used—or abused—like this, users fear the brand’s emails could get auto‑banished to spam right when actual support messages matter most.
Key Points
- •The article reports a new surge of Zendesk-related emails.
- •About 50 emails were received in one day by the author.
- •Nearly all were automatically categorized as spam before reaching the inbox.
- •The emails were described as nominally legitimate by the author.
- •The article characterizes Zendesk’s mailserver reputation as poor, suggesting deliverability challenges.