I didn't send that email!

[Godwynn]

Greetings,

Last night my hotmail account sent out emails to all of my contacts. I ran a virus scan and nothing came up. I'm at a loss for words since this has never happened before and I always keep Avira's Guard on. What do y'all think/suggest?

I've changed the password.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I managed to send ads for viagra to myself the other week somehow.

 

[Souron]

I have had something just like this happen recently too.

@ParadigmShifter
Sending emails from an arbitrary account is easy, the protocols involved don't query the domain of the sender for authenticity, generally.

 

[innonimatu]

generally?

It's amazing how many things now depend on such a failure-prone protocols as those used by email! There's no guarantee that it will be delivered, no guarantee it won't be intercepted or modified, and no guarantee that the supposed sender is real. And because checking the headers of signing (PKI) the emails isn't practical, I don't see this getting fixed.

 

[Souron]

Well there is DomainKeys...

It doesn't do much, but it isn't nothing.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

In my junk email I just got a "Failed Email" for a spam email I didnt send. I didnt see any unusual activity in the thing that Gmail provides and I didnt see anything strange in Sent Email. Can I just brush this off as a spoofed email?

 

[classical_hero]

I've had emails sent to me by me, but not by me. I know it is just some spambot that has copied my address and sent it to me to make it look like it was a legitimate email, but I know better, so not to get a virus or worse from it.

 

[shadowplay]

Some people are sent (through bad links) to a fake hotmail site which when you enter your user-name and password then steals it.

 

[Turner]

I have fun with those....

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I have fun with those....

putting in fake ones to throw them off?

 

[Turner]

Something like that.