> 2e. Re: Sad News....................Charles O'donnell
> Posted by: "codonn2478@aol.com"
> codonn2478@aol.com
> codonn2478
> Date: Tue May 24, 2011 6:36 am ((PDT))
>
> I never wrote the mail asking for funds. Someone must be
> using my email
> address.
>
> Any suggestions how I stop this.
>
I've had this happen to me also (although the emails I was supposedly sending out were to sell something, not to scam money from people for nothing at all) -- so I asked a friend who is computer-savvy what I can do. Other than rigorous use of passwords, changing them, and other common security precautions, etc., that are widely known and usually use by most people, apparently there is little that can be done to stop or prevent someone from using your email address as "theirs" to send out whatever emails they wish, apparently from "you". I think the hackers' term is "spoofing" someone's email account.
One possible security breach is if you use a "public" computer (like in a library or hotel business center) and sign in to check email, etc., you MUST sign out when finished, or someone can simply sit down and "continue" your session using your account.
And of course, they have access to the email addresses in your email address book somehow, or have hacked in to an email you sent to multiple people and use those "to" addresses as certain of being "known" to you. I THINK that avoiding Microsoft Outlook reduces the chances of this being done, but I don't use Outlook and it still has happened to me. I'm sure there are several ways both to obtain your email address and send emails "from" it, as well as to obtain your contacts' email addresses for use.
WHEN you find out you've "sent" something like this (which usually only happens when someone alerts you of the outgoing email and / or asks to "be removed from your email list"), I think what you've done, explaining that the message is not from you to begin with, is sufficient -- I don't even think an apology is necessary, since everyone should understand it's not from you.
Fortunately (I guess) this has happened at least a couple of times before on this list, so regular readers should already be alert to the problem and the scam.
PS - Please return the money I sent you :)
--BG
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