Has my email address been breached or hacked?

[wylie]

I received an email this morning, straight into my "spam" folder, but when I looked at it, it has my email address in the heading, and was sent to my email address BUT the sender's email address is also mine.

It is for a Rolex watch. Only content is a picture of a watch and a "click here" just above it.

I use an Apple and am happy that it went straight into the "spam" folder but wondered how someone has managed to have it showing as being sent from my own email address to my own email address.

I'm happy to just delete it, but I haven't had this happen before, and wonder if I need to do anything. Has my email address somehow been breached?

 

[Propertunity]

.... and wonder if I need to do anything.

Why not just go in and change your email password? You should do this on a semi-regular basis anyway.

 

[Rolf Latham]

unlikely

I get 100 plus a day of them : ) with the sender being variations of some of the domain names and mails we use

somehow u have ended on a confirmed spam list

ta

rolf

 

[laurencei]

Emails can be 'spoofed'.

I can send an email to any email address, prending to be from any email address in the world I want.

Email is actually a really insecure transmission method...

 

[Dazz]

Well, I tried calling you, but you wouldn't pick up the phone, so I emailed you instead.

Now can you please just send through your bank account details and password like I asked you previously.

 

[wylie]

Thanks all.

I've changed my password so hopefully that will not bother the nigerian prince who emailed me yesterday and he will be able to find me again .

I keep getting a naughty photo of "Irina" or some other similar name, tied to a bed with just nickers on. She is very persistent. It also goes straight to my spam or junk, but I do wonder if she is becoming exhausted and I do hope somebody unties her so she can have some dinner .

 

[Slim Pikins]

G'day Wylie,

I was advised to have an email address along the lines of AAAAAAAa@aaaa at the start of my email list. This is supposed to stop people being able to access your email addresses if they gain access to your email account, and send stuff on to all your friends. I also send everything as BCC [blind carbon copy] so people can't pick up your email address from a friend,of a friend of a friend as some emails get sent.

Btw. I would be hoping "Irina" gets a loo break long before they give her dinner!

Slim

 

[wobbycarly]

Thanks all.

I've changed my password so hopefully that will not bother the nigerian prince who emailed me yesterday and he will be able to find me again .

I keep getting a naughty photo of "Irina" or some other similar name, tied to a bed with just nickers on. She is very persistent. It also goes straight to my spam or junk, but I do wonder if she is becoming exhausted and I do hope somebody unties her so she can have some dinner .

Can you forward that one on please?

 

[Olly]

Two things.

First - your display name.
Your email address might be [email protected] but you can choose to have Mary as your display name so people see an email from Mary coming in not your actual email address. If you've got your email address in your display field then that's what it shows. This is what the spammer has done - put your email address in it's display name field - and - maybe even put your email address as the return path if you try to reply - you'll be emailing yourself.

Secondly -
To find out where it's really come from, find the Headers or Display Headers bit in your email programme. I can't advise where they are for your programme 'cos you didn't say what programme you're using e.g. in gmail you open an email then click on the arrow next to Reply then on Show Original. You'll see a lot of gobbeldygook. To work out what it means click here - http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=29436

The explanation given there applies to all email programmes.

Or you can copy/paste a header into here - https://messageheader.appspot.com/ and click the Analyse button and it sets it out as all the 'hops' along the way showing all the senders, servers, receivers etc.

I received an email this morning, straight into my "spam" folder, but when I looked at it, it has my email address in the heading, and was sent to my email address BUT the sender's email address is also mine.

It is for a Rolex watch. Only content is a picture of a watch and a "click here" just above it.

I use an Apple and am happy that it went straight into the "spam" folder but wondered how someone has managed to have it showing as being sent from my own email address to my own email address.

I'm happy to just delete it, but I haven't had this happen before, and wonder if I need to do anything. Has my email address somehow been breached?

 

[vaughan]

Has my email address somehow been breached?

All your e-mail are belong to us!

 

[the_captain]

I would advise anyone that uses gmail to set up google authenticator. Basically with google authenticator your password becomes almost impossible to break as part of it will be a random number. You need an iPhone or android app from google for it to work, but you can configure your devices to only ask for a password every 30 days

It sounds more Inconvenient than it really is. Plus you know your password is virtually unbreakable

 

[Monty Burns]

I own my own domain name and when ever I am to provide an email address I create one for the purpose such as [email protected]

so if i start seeing spam I can quickly work out who is doing it.

currently I have had only one company complain about me having their name in my email address, which explained is not a copywrite issue as they are the only company that is aware that it exists.

 

[the_captain]

That is a top idea MB. Top drawer indeed