Fully agreed. I'm shocked she gave a random unsolicited emailer the time of day. Most problems are ones we create for ourselves.

Responding to spam and then feeling like you've been the victim of some injustice that the spam didn't say "hey, I'm not really spam, I'm grad-student flavored spam" is quite a take.

Here's a tip for anyone not running a business: If your response is legally required, it'll come in the physical mail. Don't take legal advice from spam, me, or your sysadmin.