How Can You Spot A Spoof Email?
Randy Eadon
November 04, 2008
Unless you have never had an email account, you know exactly what spam email is all about. You also know that there are some scams that come into your inbox that you should be aware of so you don´t fall for the tricks. Some are harmless, but some can really mess up your life. Many times, tracing an email for authenticity is a good idea, but it won´t do you much good if the email has been spoofed.
A spoofed email is going to give you false information. Those that do this find a way to hide the true origin of an email. In normal cases, the header of any email indicates where an email came from, the route it took to get to you, and when it was sent. This can tell you a lot about who sent it. In a spoofed email, however, none of the information that you see is going to be correct.
There are some times when email spoofing is a good idea. When someone needs to be contacted for legal reasons, they may not respond unless the email has been spoofed. It is also a way that someone can contact someone else without that person tracing them. This is helpful if someone has a restraining order, or has been the victim of a crime. Though it is usually not wise to contact someone in these cases, there are exceptions.
Some spoofs are hard to figure out, and you may never spot it other than to decide the subject matter is spam or a scam and you delete. However, some spoof in a more simple way, and that is something you can trace. They may just change the name on their email account so that it appears to come from someone else, but the traceable IP numbers are still the same. If you trace those IP numbers, you can find the true sender of the email.
For more information on spotting a spoofed email, and what you should do if you get one, you should look online for more information. Deleting is always a great idea, but in some cases, you may want to hang on to one to take more action. It will depend on your situation.
A spoofed email is going to give you false information. Those that do this find a way to hide the true origin of an email. In normal cases, the header of any email indicates where an email came from, the route it took to get to you, and when it was sent. This can tell you a lot about who sent it. In a spoofed email, however, none of the information that you see is going to be correct.
There are some times when email spoofing is a good idea. When someone needs to be contacted for legal reasons, they may not respond unless the email has been spoofed. It is also a way that someone can contact someone else without that person tracing them. This is helpful if someone has a restraining order, or has been the victim of a crime. Though it is usually not wise to contact someone in these cases, there are exceptions.
Some spoofs are hard to figure out, and you may never spot it other than to decide the subject matter is spam or a scam and you delete. However, some spoof in a more simple way, and that is something you can trace. They may just change the name on their email account so that it appears to come from someone else, but the traceable IP numbers are still the same. If you trace those IP numbers, you can find the true sender of the email.
For more information on spotting a spoofed email, and what you should do if you get one, you should look online for more information. Deleting is always a great idea, but in some cases, you may want to hang on to one to take more action. It will depend on your situation.
Print
Email
