Norton AntiVirus detected and quarantined a virus in a message that I sent, but I didn't send anything. It's not in my sent box and I'm the only one that has access to this mailbox. Does this mean someone is sending on my behalf? How are they getting access? How can I find out who is using my address? Someone indicated that I may have a virus embedded, but how can I tell? It was the only email I received.
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received an email that I sent an email, but I didnt' send it
- Thread starter Peach66
- Start date
Howdy:
It is called email spoofing and it is done by a virus that is on someone else's system that has you in their Contact List.
What the virii does (Klez and Bugbear are the worst) is lookin the infected systems address book and selects a name. It places that email addy into the "From" box and then proceeds to send itself out to others located in that Contact List.
Those that don't have an active anti-virus program will see that the email is from someone they probably know and will open it thus infecting their system and starting the process over.
Those that do have a good av program will pick it up and return it to the addy in the From box which is you.
You can start to expect a pile of these. Until the infected system(s) are found and cleaned there is nothing you can do about it.
I suggest you contact your ISP to let them know what is happening so you aren't placed on a "banned" list by other ISP's !!
Murray
It is called email spoofing and it is done by a virus that is on someone else's system that has you in their Contact List.
What the virii does (Klez and Bugbear are the worst) is lookin the infected systems address book and selects a name. It places that email addy into the "From" box and then proceeds to send itself out to others located in that Contact List.
Those that don't have an active anti-virus program will see that the email is from someone they probably know and will open it thus infecting their system and starting the process over.
Those that do have a good av program will pick it up and return it to the addy in the From box which is you.
You can start to expect a pile of these. Until the infected system(s) are found and cleaned there is nothing you can do about it.
I suggest you contact your ISP to let them know what is happening so you aren't placed on a "banned" list by other ISP's !!
Murray
Murray is dead on in his post. virus writers in an effort to make thier viruses more succesful (spread more) started the spoofing the sent address so that the actual person who is infected, doesn't get notifed that he is infected and can continue to spread the virus.
Many ISPs no longer send out such warnings because of the numberous false alarms and problems it caused them.
I am in a difficult situation. I see every virus that comes in our email (I work at a college) I turned off notifications to senders.
However, our instructors accept assignements via email and they are time sensitive. So every day I scan the list of viruses and if I see a word or excel macro virus, I notify the sender manually. That way they can't claim that they sent in their assignement and the instructor didn't get it. (they are not only responsible for doing thier assigment, but they are responsible for providing it in a virus free form.
Many ISPs no longer send out such warnings because of the numberous false alarms and problems it caused them.
I am in a difficult situation. I see every virus that comes in our email (I work at a college) I turned off notifications to senders.
However, our instructors accept assignements via email and they are time sensitive. So every day I scan the list of viruses and if I see a word or excel macro virus, I notify the sender manually. That way they can't claim that they sent in their assignement and the instructor didn't get it. (they are not only responsible for doing thier assigment, but they are responsible for providing it in a virus free form.
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