# More e-mail weirdness **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266 "2005-09-18T21:44:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266/1 "2005-09-18T21:44:59Z")
I have an alternate email address I used when I signed up for one of those Page-A-Day online calendars (don’t sign up for it!) and I’m positive that’s the source of the majority of spam I get (2-3 messgaes per day - usually for meds). Once in a while I’ll accidentally open one of the messages. On the few occasions I have, the "To: " address is not mine. It’s close but not exactly the same. How am I getting the mail if the address doesn’t match? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266/2 "2005-09-18T21:57:46Z")
It is called [e-mail spoofing.](http://eleccomm.ieee.org/header-spoofing.shtml). The protocols used to send e-mail are inherently insecure. It is very easy to send a message from anyone ([george.bush@whitehouse.org](mailto:george.bush@whitehouse.org)) to anyone with special tools. There are two parts to the “To:” information. One is the actual recipient e-mail and the other is information that displays the receipient name (what you are seeing). This is what Spammers do. I am a little suprised that you only get 3 or 4 a day. I get 30 or more a day but I have had my e-mail address since 1996. These things tend to build with time as your e-mail address propagates through SpammerLand. The only way to stop it is to get a good Spam blocker. Your ISP may have one you can turn on. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266/3 "2005-09-18T22:00:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > This is what Spammers do. I am a little suprised that you only get 3 or 4 a day. I get 30 or more a day but I have had my e-mail address since 1996. These things tend to build with time as your e-mail address propagates through SpammerLand. The only way to stop it is to get a good Spam blocker. Your ISP may have one you can turn on. I use Thunderbird to retrieve my mail (from comcast). How would I implement a spam-blocker? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266/4 "2005-09-18T22:05:23Z")
I use a whilelist spam blocker called Qurb (which costs $20 or $30). It starts by permitting receipt of mail from anyone in your inbox or your address book. Everything else goes in a special folder to be reviewed by you. It works well since I rarely get mail from someone unknown to me that I want, but if you regularly get desirable mail from strangers, you’re going to have to be careful in reviewing the filtered messages. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-e-mail-weirdness/322266/5 "2005-09-18T22:14:03Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I use Thunderbird to retrieve my mail (from comcast). How would I implement a spam-blocker? Thunderbird has a built-in spam filter. You have to ‘train’ it to recognize spam quite reliably - i.e. tell it when you get spam and it will do a pretty good job of recognizing it and similar next time. Check out the help pages.