How scammers are using your own email address against you
Why am I getting spam from my own email address and how to stop it?
It’s alarming, isn’t it? Seeing an email in your inbox that appears to be from your own address. This tactic, known as email spoofing, is increasingly used by scammers to trick people by masking their true identity.
Over the years, scammers have become very inventive in their efforts to swindle you out of your money, privacy, security, and sanity. They have pretended to be everything from your family, friends, employers, insurance companies, to financial institutions. Now, they are taking it a step further by sending emails that look like they are coming from you. That’s right, scammers are spoofing your email address to make it appear as though the emails you are receiving are coming from your own address.
Illustration of a man upset over email spoofing.
What is spoofing?
Spoofing is a tactic where scammers forge your email address to make it look like it is being sent from someone other than the original sender. Unfortunately, spoofing email addresses is quite easy, as most email service providers don’t check the legitimacy of what a sender inputs in the “From” field when sending an email.
Scammers can save a different name for any email address in their contacts and then use that. For instance, even if an email address is scammer@gmail.com, it can be saved in contacts with the name “John Smith.” When the email reaches the recipient, it simply shows that it is from “John Smith.”
Image of Mail app.
Why do scammers spoof your email?
While it seems odd, spoofing your email address makes perfect sense to scammers. Here’s why:
Bypass spam filters: Using their own email addresses is likely to get flagged as spam. By spoofing your email address, they increase the chances of getting past spam filters.
Appears legitimate: You are more likely to believe in the legitimacy of the email if it appears to come from your own account.
Illustration of locking up your information.
What can I do to prevent spoofing?
Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to prevent this, but you can still take steps to protect yourself.
Check your email account: Double-check to make sure that this email did not come from your email account by looking at the draft and sent folders. Ensure your email isn’t open on an unrecognizable device.
Secure your email account: Use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication. Consider using a password manager to store complex passwords.
Don’t click links or respond: Never click on any links or open any attachments in suspicious emails. Install antivirus software on all your devices to safeguard your information.
Report spam: Keep flagging and reporting these spam emails to help your email service provider improve their spam filters.
Set up filters: Create filters to flag and move emails with common phrases or words often found in spoofed emails to your spam or junk folder.
Contact your email provider: Some email providers offer specific tools or procedures for handling spoofed emails.
Don’t reply to scammers: It may be tempting, but don’t reply to these scammers as it will confirm your email is valid and active.
Invest in personal data removal services: These services help protect your information from spammers and constantly monitor and remove your information from multiple sites.
Kurt’s key takeaways
It can be exhausting to keep yourself safe from endless spam emails, but knowing that scammers are now using your own name and email address makes it even more stressful. While it may not be possible to completely protect your email address from being used by scammers, following the steps mentioned can help keep you safer and more secure.
Have you received a spam email from yourself? What’s the most believable spam email you received? What made you realize it was spam? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com/contact.
