Spoofing
What is spoofing?
Explanation :: Detection :: Solution :: Prevention
Spoofing is the term for falsified e-mail addresses that appear to come from a sender when in fact, the message is really being sent by a spammer. They can be difficult to spot and cause many problems, both for recipients and spoofed e-mail address owners.
E-mail spoofing can assume a variety of forms, but basically, a spoofed e-mail has appears to have been sent from one source when it actually was sent from another source entirely. Phishing attempts and e-mail worms typically use spoofed e-mail addresses to trick users into believing that an e-mail has come from a trusted source. The actual sender effectively hides behind a user's address by falsifying its routing information, making it appears to come from the legitimate user's account.
However, any replies to a spoofed e-mail go directly to the legitimate e-mail account (not the sender who has spoofed the e-mail) causing embarassment and inconvenience. The legitimate user can find their e-mail Inbox bombarded with viruses, bounced e-mail, flame e-mails and in some cases can have their account suspended or shut down by their Internet Service Provider (ISP) for violating its anti-spam policy.
Meanwhile, the sender avoids all of these consequences, leaving innocent users to deal with the aftermath.
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