spam from "me"

[liz]

I have recently noticed mail from "me" in my spam folder. When I open
them it list my gmail address as the return address but they are most
definitely not from me. The subject lines say different things like
"Delivery Status Notification" or "Order Status" etc. When opened they
are prescription ads etc. I am worried about how this is possible. I
do not want to be associated to these people and do not understand how
they can use any address like that. I have changed my password but do
not know what else to do. Really hate to have to change my gmail now.
Help?!

[Nick Chirchirillo]

Don't worry about it.  Changing the "from" field in the headers of an email is apparently quite easy to do.  Spammers use this technique to hide their own identity.  Chances are they don't even know if your account exists, they just put in a random address, much like when they send out the spam.

--
-Nick

[Andrew Ingraham]

> I have recently noticed mail from "me" in my spam folder.

Welcome to the world of spam. This is nothing new.

You don't think people who send spam would use their own names as the From:
address, do you? Most spam comes with a 'forged' or 'spoofed' From:
address, since it is easy to do, and the From: address has nothing to do
with where the email actually came from.

> ... and do not understand how

> they can use any address like that.

The same way they used your address when they sent it TO you!

Sorry, but it is an unfortunate fact of life today on the internet.

By sending the email From: your address, it stands a better chance of
landing in your Inbox (since you would never 'blacklist' or ban email from
yourself).

> I have changed my password

They did not use your Gmail account and your password has nothing to do with
it. They just borrowed your name and email address. It is like someone
sending a postal mail letter and writing your name and address in the return
address area on the envelope. They can do that without breaking into your
house.

> Really hate to have to change my gmail now.

It will happen anywhere you go. It will happen again if you create a new
Gmail account and use it.

> do not know what else to do.

Some advice for avoiding this sort of thing are:

1. Choose an email address that is not something easily guessed, such as a
name, or a simple combination of words.

2. Do not send email. (Really!) If you do, send it only to people you
fully trust. Any time you send email to someone else, it opens the
possibility that your address might get found where spammers can get to it.
Even sending email to someone you trust opens that possibility, if their ISP
is not very secure, or if their computer gets a virus.

3. Don't post messages on internet forums or group lists. (But you just
did. And so did I.)

4. Never post your email address in a form on a website.

In other words, spam WILL happen almost no matter what you do, and some of
that spam WILL be address From: you. Sorry, it is a fact of life.

Andy

[Zack (Doc)]

You don't need to change anything. The "from" on an e-mail is as easy
to fake as the return address on an envelope. The spammers are doing
this to try and get past your spam filters. If it's working, just be
sure to click the "Report Spam" button to train the filters to keep it
out of your inbox.

--

Dan Quayle - "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

[liz]

Thank you to everyone for the helpful replies.

On Dec 15, 9:54 am, "Zack (Doc)" <z...@tnan.net> wrote:
> You don't need to change anything.  The "from" on an e-mail is as easy
> to fake as the return address on an envelope.  The spammers are doing
> this to try and get past your spam filters.  If it's working, just be
> sure to click the "Report Spam" button to train the filters to keep it
> out of your inbox.
>

[Deltamusic]

I started getting a lot of those. some show they ar from Microsoft. I
started marking them as "Phishing ". Now a lot have the red banner
showing. a friend of mine clicked on the tab "click here if having
trouble viewing image" and her spam count increased 10 fold. she now
gets over800 a day and befor it was around 50/60. Don't think there
is any reason to worry but when ya get one of those little yellow
emails from "me" to "me" take the time to mark as phishing. Just don't
click on the body of the message . :)

> > Dan Quayle  - "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Zack (Doc)]

Yes. Unfortunately, the "click here" and pictures in the spam are all
just used to verify the address they sent it to is used. It usually
has the effect of increasing the amount you get, even if the link you
click is to unsubscribe.

--

David Letterman - "Sometimes when you look in his eyes you get the
feeling that someone else is driving."

[Russell Zen]

I just don't open my spam folder period. It autodeletes after 30 days, so why touch it? Least spam possible = ZERO because you never even move your mouse over to click the Spam folder to begin with.

--
Neil the Cellist.

My art I don't really like because I stole an image:
http://img212.echo.cx/img212/8640/niel24lu.jpg

My art that I like because I handmade the image:
http://img190.echo.cx/img190/523/neilthecellist5zh.gif
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b379/DJ-Unowned/350%20x%20100%20New%20Sigs/DEUnownedHalflifeGordan2.jpg

[Zack (Doc)]

The problem with never checking it, is you might miss something that's
been accidentally marked as spam, but really isn't.

It's rare, but it happens.

--

Dwight D. Eisenhower - "In preparing for battle I have always found
that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

[Russell Zen]

In my 5 years with Gmail, I haven't had that problem, but I acknowledge the possibility.

[miran osabnik]

I agree. Thats just why i check it once in a while. But i think once
you mark a mail as - not spam - the spam filter never marks mail from
the same sender as spam again. Or does it?

--
Miran Ošabnik
Phantom Design Labs Ltd.

[miran osabnik]

I do the same. I almost never open the spam box every few weeks i
just check if there is any mail that isnt spam, so i can mark it - as
not spam. Since i have this gmail account, i deleted the spam box
perhaps 3 or 4 times. So it seams to me it works. I have deleted all
the spam about two weeks ago, and now, there are 17 messages in my
spam box.

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 8:51 PM, Russell Zen <neilthe...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I just don't open my spam folder period. It autodeletes after 30 days, so
> why touch it? Least spam possible = ZERO because you never even move your
> mouse over to click the Spam folder to begin with.
>
> On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 11:15 AM, Zack (Doc) <za...@tnan.net> wrote:

>>I th

--

[Andrew Ingraham]

> The problem with never checking it, is you might miss something that's
> been accidentally marked as spam, but really isn't.

Indeed. I had two new ones today!

Everyone's spam varies, so "your mileage may vary" (your results may differ
from mine).

> But i think once
> you mark a mail as - not spam - the spam filter never marks mail from
> the same sender as spam again. Or does it?

It does (or may). All the mail I was getting from one sender were being
marked as spam, and it took several clicks on the "Not spam" button to train
the filter that this person's emails were OK.

I've found that training/retraining the spam filter is an ongoing process,
and it may sometimes take LOTS of training to see any change in the results.

Andy

[Julie]

There are certain emails from distribution lists that will always be marked as spam. Logically it is also possible that some emails from other people, will fall foul of Gmails spam rules.

But Gmail has now enabled an option in Filters, so that you can filter such email addresses and include a "Never send it to Spam" option.

[Iris]

I am having the same problem, I am finding mail from "me" in the spam
folder. What I am worried about is that my address is being now
filtered as spam, and if I am sending real email from the real 'me' to
someone who I've never sent email to, they will never receive it
because I'm not in their contact list, and my messages will be
filtered as 'spam'???? does anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks
Iris

On Dec 17, 7:23 am, Julie <julieja...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There are certain emails from distribution lists that will always be marked
> as spam. Logically it is also possible that some emails from other people,
> will fall foul of Gmails spam rules.
>
> But Gmail has now enabled an option in Filters, so that you can filter such
> email addresses and include a "Never send it to Spam" option.
>
> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 2:47 AM, Andrew Ingraham

> <andrew.ingra...@gmail.com>wrote:

[Randy Harmelink]

It's not the email address that is being filtered on for those
messages, as I send myself notes from time to time and they aren't
ending up in the SPAM bucket with the real SPAM messages.

[Ryan Morehart]

Yep, no need to be worried about messages being filtered on address
alone. Gmail is merely recognizing the message content itself as spam,
sender does not play a huge role in it.

Ryan

[Iris]

Randy, I'm not sure how reliable your testing method would be, but it's reassuring to know the messages are not filtered based on address alone. I really don't want to be 'blacklisted'! thanks!

Iris

[dzb]

Is it possible for Gmail to track down spammers?
I am getting huge amounts of spam from the sender "me".
I can't create a filter or I will wipe out messages from the real me.

If this stuff is illegal, why can't these idiots be traced and
stopped?
Perhaps penance would be to redirect their efforts for the common
good.
Cheers.

[Zack (Doc)]

They can't be traced (completely) because they take many steps to hide
themselves, and most ISPs don't make a huge effort to stop them (at
least not the ISPs they use). It's only illegal in some places (like
the US, and even then only if they break certain rules; meaning there
are rules they can follow and it's legal), and they can only be
prosecuted if they're in those countries.

Most spam comes from Russia, where it's not yet illegal, and so even
when the receivers are in countries where it is, the Russian
government has "bigger fish to fry", so they take no effort to bring
them to justice.

For now, it's something we all have to live with. I report all my
spam to US authorities, so if they can do anything, I'm sure they
will. The address to report to them is "SP...@UCE.GOV". Send with
full headers so they'll have every information they could want to
potentially track people.

--

Robert Byrne - "Getting caught is the mother of invention."

[miran osabnik]

Is the link you sent to report spam intended only for U.S. citysens, or is it the same if i report spam i get in EU?

It might help them gather info, right?

[Zack (Doc)]

It's the FTC address so it's basically US only, but there's nothing
stopping you from sending to them. Here's the link explaining it.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/newspamemail.shtm

I'm pretty sure the EU has a similar organization which might have
it's own mechanism for reporting scams and helping reduce spam.

--

Brendan Behan - "When I came back to Dublin I was courtmartialed in
my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could
shoot me in my absence."

[miran osabnik]

Thanks. I read the article.I guess its best if i report this to more than one organisation, it can only help them find at least some of the people sending spam and fraud. 

[miran osabnik]

I posted this link a while ago, however it seems many new users are having problem with spam like i do, so here it is one more time.

It has lots of useful information, suggestions on how to protect your self and others from spam...

http://www.ssmedia.com/index.cfm/articles-how_do_i_protect_my_email_address.htm

[miran osabnik]

I posted this link a while ago, however it seems many new users are having problem with spam like i do, so here it is one more time.

It has lots of useful information, suggestions on how to protect your self and others from spam...

http://www.ssmedia.com/index.cfm/articles-how_do_i_protect_my_email_address.htm

On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 8:02 PM, Iris <iri...@gmail.com> wrote: