Spam mail

derekgas · 10-11-2008, 08:13

I have recently been getting spam mail that says it is sent from MY email address,

I dont understand how this can happen if I havnt sent the mail, it is exactly the same address that I use.. Any idea how it is done and if I can stop them?

I havnt opened any btw, just deleted them.

katex · 10-11-2008, 09:42

I got one of those yesterday too Derek ... was gonna' ask on here, but they tell me off ..

Think the subject heading gave it away 'If you can read it, your wife isn't happy then' !.

Goes on about MSN and I had subscribed to offers, and to click the 'unsubscribe' button. 'Course I haven't and deleted, however, they are trying all sorts now, and it will get in a bit that I am afraid of opening any foreign E-Mails ... just like I never answer certain 'phone calls these days.

entwisi · 10-11-2008, 09:43

You can't stop it as its dead easy to spoof a from address.

I'd not worry about it mate

One thing that does seem to cut it down is if you have your own domain name for email.

katex · 10-11-2008, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

One thing that does seem to cut it down is if you have your own domain name for email.

Ok, not afraid to look stupid .. what do you mean Entwisi .. domain name ?

entwisi · 10-11-2008, 09:55

The bit after teh @ sign

e.g. I don't use [email protected] I use entwisi@<my own domain>.co.uk (not put in for obvious spam bots but you get the idea.

You can run an email domain for under a pound a month with domain names about £3 a year. this gives you 5 email accounts, auto Antivirus scanning, auto responders and even sub domains so you can seperate stuff like ebay traffic from personal email.

1&1 Internet Ltd. - 1&1 Mail - 1&1 Instant Mail

katex · 10-11-2008, 09:59

Got that .. mmm, don't have that ... thanks.

Studio25 · 10-11-2008, 10:33

Spam identifies the "sender" using several techniques usually designed to bypass any spam prevention measures you might have taken.

So many people belong to mailing lists that if they delete (as spam) anything that has their email address as the sender, they won't get their own contributions to the list. This is easily overcome (even in outlook express) by setting up a mail rule which deletes any email from you that is not to the mailing list.

A lot of spam comes from compromised PCs and works by spoofing the email address that the spam purports to come from. The theory is that you're more likely to open an email from someone you know, but if the compromised PC is identified, it's easy to clean it. So the spammer tries the next best thing and picks up someone else's email address from the compromised PC's inbox or address book. Chances are, you'll know them or know of them, and open the email.

By far the biggest spam magnet is a usenet (newsgroup) posting. These usually try to change the leading part of the email address (the bit before the @ sign) slightly in the hope that it will still get through.

Just under 92% of the email I get is spam, and the antispam program I use picks up 99.75% of them.

derekgas · 10-11-2008, 13:49

My spam blocker picks it all up, seems to be very good at filtering spam out, my concern was that my email address may have been compromised in some way, you have lost me Entwisi with the domain name email, I have around 90 domain names, but my email addy is the same one I always use, the domains just point to the main website.

Redash · 10-11-2008, 20:46

When you set up your email client, (Outlook express, windows mail, thunderbird, etc..) one of the boxes you fill in is your email address. This comes out at the other end, as the reply to address. You can put any email address in here, and you can still send it through your normal email.

If you want to try it -
Setup a new email account using your email settings, but fill in the email address as [email protected] or [email protected], then send yourself an email. It will appear to come from one of the above people.

Spammers are using this technique, but with the email address off their spam list. There is more chance of it getting through, if it's not from a known spam domain. Eventually all domains will be on the anti-spam blacklist then nothing will get through.

derekgas · 10-11-2008, 20:55

Okay redash, thanks for that.

Margaret Pilkington · 10-11-2008, 21:02

This has been happening to me too. I thought something malicious had taken over my e-mail address. I have spent a major part of this weekend running malware , spyware and virus checks........my spamcleaner doesn't let it through, but I recently needed to check my 'trash' box for an e-mail that I was expecting.....I was quite perturbed to find e-mails for....shall we say, 'male enhancements' purporting to come from me.
Thankyou for the explanations....not that I am a whole lot wiser, but I am reassured.

derekgas · 10-11-2008, 22:06

I get those margaret, along with viagra, loan offers, dating, etc, some of these could cause a lot of trouble for people, the cretins who send them will hopefully die a slow and painful death!

cashman · 10-11-2008, 23:38

been getting em from meself fer yonks now, used to worry me a bit, but now just don't give a stuff. probably get a couple a day, from me n about 200 from other pricks.

Studio25 · 11-11-2008, 00:19

Interesting use of "other", Cashy

bondi38 · 11-11-2008, 12:29

do what redash says it works i did it months ago and not had any spam from the day i did it good luck.