How do I receive spam email that is not addressed to me?

Question

I have received spam several times in the past whereby the email in the 'To' part is not my email, yet the email still came to my inbox.

For example, one of the emails I got today had the following details:

from: Asshwray Tanfelde
to: [e-mail]
cc: [e-mail]
date: Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 12:31 PM
subject: Afternoon News: Check out NAPW membership benefits

My email address is not the same as any of those mentioned above, but the email was still delivered to my Gmail inbox. How does that work?

Answer 1

There are THREE lines in the header of every email regarding addressing. TO: is obvious, CC: is for carbon copies, which are informative to others not on the TO: line. And then there is a "hidden" BCC: line which stands for Blind Carbon Copy. Any address on the BCC: line is hidden from view. Sometimes you will see "undisclosed recipients" listed. If so, that comes from the BCC: line. Spammers put addresses from lists on the BCC: line. THAT is how it got into your IN box. I suggest you set up a filter to eliminate any email which does NOT have your complete actual email address on the TO: or CC: lines. You will have to figure out how to set the filter for your email client. It is different for everyone on exactly the steps you have to go through to activate a filter such as this. Then, if you are on any mailing lists you will have to add the sender of the mailing list to your white list (or address book) since mailing lists generally also use the BCC: line exactly like spammers do. Adding a sender to your white list (or address book) overrides the filter to dump email not addressed to your address exactly. Gmail uses spam filters on their servers that only look at the body and attempt to analyze the contents to see if it is spam but do not examine the headers for who the email is addressed to.

Answer 2

Your email address is probably included in the BCC field. The other option is that someone entered your email address on a form instead of theirs either on purpose or by accident.

Answer 3

The spammer could have gained your password with phishing direct mail. exchange your password. once you're on your account settings examine for tampering at the same time with your exchange digital mail touch address. that must be used to get carry of recent passwords. additionally abstain from clicking on hyperlinks interior your direct mail. Spammers' webpages can run malicious scripts. This runs interior your browser and can tell webmail presently logged in interior that browser to deliver direct mail.

Answer 4

thats why its called SPAM



also some people get them becuz you have a very close email as someone else or even the same one in most cases



just like when you get a new phone and someone asks for someone and all you can say is "you have the wrong number..." -click-