Not My Mail So Why Is It In My Inbox?

mmv3002 · 6 Jul 2008, 04:41 AM

Hi. Can someone shed some light on this? A former business acquaintance's email messages addressed to other parties arrive in my inbox as if it were intended for me. This person is not someone I'm close to-in fact, I suspect he compromised our work computer when I worked at the same place of business as he. I'm really perplexed by this and hope someone can help me. Thanks so much!
M-

kingofpenguins · 6 Jul 2008, 04:53 AM

Sounds like its been carbon copied to you. Is your email in the CC: field?

Adrian Bell · 6 Jul 2008, 05:24 AM

Or Bcc (blind carbon copy), in which case your address won't appear at all.

n5bb · 6 Jul 2008, 05:58 AM

Welcome to the EMD Forums, mmv3002!

The To header should not be trusted. It often does not tell you which email address was used to get the message to your Inbox. This often confuses novice email users, since a lot of spam doesn't have their correct email address in the To field of their email client message viewer screen. Instead, anything can be in the To field and a message delivered via their address in BCC will still get to them. So they think that their email system is sending them email not addressed to them.

To and CC (Carbon Copy) are fields inserted by the sender email client. They are for user information only, and don't indicate the true addresses used in the email envelope processed by the SMTP servers. For normal senders these fields should accurately show what the sender entered in these fields, but they can be spoofed by a spammer, so you can't trust them. For the younger readers, carbon paper was a special thin paper with a carbon graphite powder coating on one surface which was used to make copies before xerographic copiers (or scanners and digital printers) were widely available. In special applications you can still occasionally see special carbonless copying paper used to make copies when filling out forms.

BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) is a field used by the sender email client which normally never is seen in a received email header. Addresses in the BCC field receive a copy of the email, but those in the To and CC address lists can't see the BCC addresses, so this is a blind carbon copy.

So as Adrian Bell suggested, I'm guessing that this person used the BCC feature to send you the message. As long as your email address is in only the BCC field when the message was generated, nobody else should see your address. If the sender puts your email address in the TO or CC field then everyone receiving that message will see your address.

I often send out emails with a blank TO field, and all addresses in BCC. This keeps friends who don't know each other from getting the email addresses of others. It's not polite to blast email addresses of some friends to people they don't know.

Bill

mmv3002 · 6 Jul 2008, 06:40 AM

Thanks to all who posted with a response about why I'm getting email.....I guess what I really should have asked was how I can make sure my account has not been hacked...I really don't trust this guy and there is no reason he would bcc: me on anything. I do know that he was accessing our work computer remotely and often talked about not caring if his user account was not authorized to access certain work files by the administrator because he could get into the computer through the "back door" . He also spoke about pasword cracking software so while I know I seem paranoid, etc. it just doesn't make sense I would be getting these emails.
Hope to get some feedback on this! Thanks!
M-

n5bb · 6 Jul 2008, 07:58 AM

I don't understand what is bothering you so much about receiving an email.

You don't say whether these emails are arriving at a work or personal email account. If it is at work, speak wit your IT group if you suspect something.

If you are getting these to your personal email address, it just means that the sender knows your personal email address. It is difficult to keep email addresses secret, since anyone you have ever sent a message to from that address can forward it to others and so on until someone you don't like gets your address.

You would suspect your email account was hacked if messages were mysteriously deleted or folders modified in your account. In that case, simply change to a new (long and unusual) password.

BCC messages are very common. Remember that it's also possible that a spammer is using the sender's address to send spam to you. Anyone can spoof their sending address, pretending to be someone else. You can only attempt to detect this by viewing the full email headers and reviewing the transfer history of the message.

Bill

xmailer · 6 Jul 2008, 10:33 AM

I don't know if it may apply in this case, but as I don't know whether or not the OP is aware of it, it may be worth noting that some email clients/programs and services have an option to automatically BCC a copy of every outgoing messages to one or more particular addresses. So, while not knowing much about the details in this case it's hard to say how likely it is, it's at least conceivable that, without anything "nefarious" necessarily going on, someone could be completely inadvertently BCCing copies of all messages, oblivious to the program/service having been set up that way by someone at some time, or perhaps having forgotten about it.

Killer · 6 Jul 2008, 09:27 PM

The best action is to inform your IT administrators. Better let them check just to be safe.

6 Jul 2008, 04:41 AM	#1
mmv3002 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	Not My Mail So Why Is It In My Inbox? Hi. Can someone shed some light on this? A former business acquaintance's email messages addressed to other parties arrive in my inbox as if it were intended for me. This person is not someone I'm close to-in fact, I suspect he compromised our work computer when I worked at the same place of business as he. I'm really perplexed by this and hope someone can help me. Thanks so much! M-

6 Jul 2008, 05:58 AM	#4
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,926	Bcc Welcome to the EMD Forums, mmv3002! The To header should not be trusted. It often does not tell you which email address was used to get the message to your Inbox. This often confuses novice email users, since a lot of spam doesn't have their correct email address in the To field of their email client message viewer screen. Instead, anything can be in the To field and a message delivered via their address in BCC will still get to them. So they think that their email system is sending them email not addressed to them. To and CC (Carbon Copy) are fields inserted by the sender email client. They are for user information only, and don't indicate the true addresses used in the email envelope processed by the SMTP servers. For normal senders these fields should accurately show what the sender entered in these fields, but they can be spoofed by a spammer, so you can't trust them. For the younger readers, carbon paper was a special thin paper with a carbon graphite powder coating on one surface which was used to make copies before xerographic copiers (or scanners and digital printers) were widely available. In special applications you can still occasionally see special carbonless copying paper used to make copies when filling out forms. BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) is a field used by the sender email client which normally never is seen in a received email header. Addresses in the BCC field receive a copy of the email, but those in the To and CC address lists can't see the BCC addresses, so this is a blind carbon copy. So as Adrian Bell suggested, I'm guessing that this person used the BCC feature to send you the message. As long as your email address is in only the BCC field when the message was generated, nobody else should see your address. If the sender puts your email address in the TO or CC field then everyone receiving that message will see your address. I often send out emails with a blank TO field, and all addresses in BCC. This keeps friends who don't know each other from getting the email addresses of others. It's not polite to blast email addresses of some friends to people they don't know. Bill

6 Jul 2008, 06:40 AM	#5
mmv3002 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	Yes but..... Thanks to all who posted with a response about why I'm getting email.....I guess what I really should have asked was how I can make sure my account has not been hacked...I really don't trust this guy and there is no reason he would bcc: me on anything. I do know that he was accessing our work computer remotely and often talked about not caring if his user account was not authorized to access certain work files by the administrator because he could get into the computer through the "back door" . He also spoke about pasword cracking software so while I know I seem paranoid, etc. it just doesn't make sense I would be getting these emails. Hope to get some feedback on this! Thanks! M-

6 Jul 2008, 04:53 AM	#2
kingofpenguins Essential Contributor Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 265	Sounds like its been carbon copied to you. Is your email in the CC: field?

6 Jul 2008, 05:24 AM	#3
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	Or Bcc (blind carbon copy), in which case your address won't appear at all.

6 Jul 2008, 07:58 AM	#6
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 8,926	I don't understand what is bothering you so much about receiving an email. You don't say whether these emails are arriving at a work or personal email account. If it is at work, speak wit your IT group if you suspect something. If you are getting these to your personal email address, it just means that the sender knows your personal email address. It is difficult to keep email addresses secret, since anyone you have ever sent a message to from that address can forward it to others and so on until someone you don't like gets your address. You would suspect your email account was hacked if messages were mysteriously deleted or folders modified in your account. In that case, simply change to a new (long and unusual) password. BCC messages are very common. Remember that it's also possible that a spammer is using the sender's address to send spam to you. Anyone can spoof their sending address, pretending to be someone else. You can only attempt to detect this by viewing the full email headers and reviewing the transfer history of the message. Bill

6 Jul 2008, 10:33 AM	#7
xmailer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: USA Posts: 5,485	I don't know if it may apply in this case, but as I don't know whether or not the OP is aware of it, it may be worth noting that some email clients/programs and services have an option to automatically BCC a copy of every outgoing messages to one or more particular addresses. So, while not knowing much about the details in this case it's hard to say how likely it is, it's at least conceivable that, without anything "nefarious" necessarily going on, someone could be completely inadvertently BCCing copies of all messages, oblivious to the program/service having been set up that way by someone at some time, or perhaps having forgotten about it.

6 Jul 2008, 09:27 PM	#8
Killer Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,762 Representative of: Killer.kkk.sg	The best action is to inform your IT administrators. Better let them check just to be safe.