Email Spoofing

What is E-Mail Spoofing?

E-mail spoofing is when an email’s “header” information is forged to make it appear as it came from somebody else.  Spam and virus distributors often use spoofing in an attempt to get recipients to open, and possibly even respond to, their solicitations.

Spoofing is easy in the electronic age because the “From:” address in an email can be easily forged. Think of it like snail-mail: the sender can write anything they want in the upper-left corner and then drop it in the mail. In either scenario, as long as the recipient’s section is okay, the mail will get delivered.

For example: Peter's machine gets infected with a virus. In his address book are entries for his friends, Paul and Mary. Paul and Mary have never met, have never exchanged email, and do not know each other - they each just know Peter. The virus on Peter's machine will send email with the virus to Paul looking like it came from Mary. Paul may wonder who this Mary person is and why she's sending him a virus, but she was never involved.

What to do when you receive a suspicious email from someone you know

Rule #1: when you get an odd or suspicious email - even from someone you know - never open it, never click on a link in it, and never open an attachment from it. If you know the person who sent it, contact them via different means (telephone) and verify that they in fact sent you the email.

Rule #2: see rule number #1.

You can also report any suspicious emails to Email Abuse. Learn more about how to report spam to LLUMC Information Security.