Emails that I never sent !!

General Topics
1

I sometimes get a “undeliverabe mail” message sent to me,but with an unknown address.Funny thing is,I never sent to that address anyway !! Does this mean that I have a virus on my cp that is randomly sending out infected mail?
I am running Avast Home 4.1 (great product) on my cp…

Thanks

2

This is so called email address spoofing. Virus collects email addresses on other machines and those have your email too (in browser cache or maybe as a contact). Virus than replicates on those addresses with false addresses.
You can just delete these mails.

3

Better if you use a spam killer application like Spamihilator, SpamPal and a lot of others (see here at section SPAM Tools) :wink:

4

Or by turning ON Silent mode :wink:

5

Or buying the Pro version where you could configure all the automatic actions of the antivirus :wink:

6

Hey,

Or by crossing your fingers behind you back. ;D

Keep in mind that any unsolicited email can contain an active destructive virus! Spoofing is a common method of delivering them since opening the email is all that is required to start them.

I prefer not to “automatically” delete anything. I would rather tackle it at that moment. Otherwise a file may be moved to the chest that is vital for system operation and you will be pulling your hair out until you realize that is lies in the Chest.

However, to each their own.

techie

7

But it doesn’t neccessarily mean that I have a virus on my cp that I’m unknowingly sending out does it?

8

a person with your email adress in his/her adress book could be infected with the worm and the worm is making it appear to come from you

9

yes yes…this is absolutely normal…i received these emails everyday… :slight_smile:

wonder which friend of mine catches the virus… :stuck_out_tongue:

10

usually its someone at work that uses a PC at home instead of a Mac (traitor!!) so i get email like that from my coworkers.

11

Another way around this is to use a program, like MailWasher, to preview the emails from the server before downloading them onto your computer. This way, you can delete these “spoofed” emails from the server before they get to you. If you are opening this type email on your computer to find that it is something you did not send, you may release a virus or worm into your computer.

Hope this help! :slight_smile:

12

I dont know if it is right but i hear that some of the new email virus now dont even require you to open the executable… all you need is to open the email. it sounds far fetched but in the virus world i guess anything goes… one of the most basic option i found to help safe guard a little better is by turn off preview in you mail browser. so nothing gets open accidentally until you get a chance to scrutinize the sender and the subject line. anything suspicious i delete. i have recently received a virus email from a friend who runs Norton and keeps it updated… really how do you totally protect yourself. hmmm…

13

The best way to prevent this “automatic execution” is to keep your tools (IE, Outlook, Windows) updated. Of course, it’s possible that a new exploit will be found and abused before a patch is released, but usually, the worms use old bugs (where the fix is already available).

You say you received a virus from your friend - most of today’s viruses fake the Sender address… are you sure you really know where it came from?

14

thats what i found interesting too cos the email had the exact address of my friend. of course Avast picked it up and moved the file before i had a chance to upen it. i reply back on the mail to post my question to my friend to make sure she was protected with a AV tool and she replied back so it was the right address… hmmm…