Unknown E-mail Sender

[shylock73]

An E-Mail I have just received states that she has seen my photo on a site and thinks I`m `cute` and I`m nearly 74. I have`nt sent my photo to any site whatsoever so I would like to know how this person got my E-mail address. She included her e-mail address so if anyone would like it ,let me pass it on to you. I might add, she only would like to talk. What should I do?

[bravejordy]

Delete it shylock, it's a scam. I've received similar emails. Not sure how they get our email addresses though.

Apparently some gullible people are taken in by these emails and before they know it their "admirer" is asking them to send money to pay for college fees and travelling expenses. I was watching a documentary about it a couple of months ago.

[shylock73]

Thanks chaps, the missus had a laugh though......can`t understand why........I still think I`m luuuuvly. Cheers

[shylock73]

Hang on tho,,,, How come she got my intials and name all correct????

[bravejordy]

I think it's just as Pickle said, they're sent out by a computer, which basically sends emails to every combination of letters.

In other words if your name and email addy were:

[email protected]

The computer would send emails out to:

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
and so on.

Then it would start again using double initials:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
and so on.

Continuing in this fashion, it would eventually send one to
[email protected] and you of course would be the unfortunate recipient.

That said though, I have received many emails that don't even have my name on them at all, but just a variation of it. I'm still puzzled as to how these reach my Inbox. I did read somewhere how they are able to do this but it was way over my head!

I keep getting emails from a "lawyer" in Nigeria, telling me that someone of the same last name as me has died tragically in a plane crash and they'd like to deposit $26,000,000 (US dollars) into my bank account! Yeah right! they must think we've just got off the banana boat.

[ChuckFickens]

bravejordy,

The emails you receive that don't seem to have your name on them at all is because they are using the BCC (clind carbon copy) field.

this field lets people send and email to one person and also CC it several other people without the person in the TO field seeing who else it was sent to, spamers use this field because it makes the mail less likely to be picked up by anti-spam software, but it also means you can get email that looks like it's not addressed to you at all

[bravejordy]

Thanks, Chuck, you explained it a lot clearer than I remembered it. ;)

[karenmac60]

On a related topic - can anyone explain how all my contacts have received emails from my and my husbands email addresses promoting an electronics website? The mails were in our sent boxes, but neither of us sent them out. I also ran virus scans and adware/spyware scans and they came up clear.

[shylock73]

Thanks to all your replies, tho it surely couldn`t have guessed my surname `mr cexalot`