Emails about Sponsored Posts are from Google?

I get a lot of emails asking about whether I allow guest posts or sponsored posts, etc.

Some of these are from seemingly random email addresses that look like they’re created just for this purpose – they don’t lead back to any kind of online footprint.

I’m wondering if these might be a Google convert attempt to see if you’re offering sponsored posts for sale and selling links on your site?

A lot of them are literally one liners like, “Do you offer Sponsored Posts on your site?”

If not Google, then perhaps some are competitors trying to entrap you and send your response to Google.

Don’t mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist. But if I wanted to find out if people were selling links, this is how I’d do it.