# My email address used as spam **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938 "2016-05-04T20:12:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/1 "2016-05-04T20:12:06Z")
A spamer/phisher is using an address I used to use on the board: [Carnivorousplant@isp.com](mailto:Carnivorousplant@isp.com) I now use: [Carnivorousplant@comcast.net](mailto:Carnivorousplant@comcast.net). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/2 "2016-05-04T20:24:31Z")
Do you know this to be true on the basis of a spam email you yourself received, or have you gotten notifications from others blaming you for spam they’re receiving? In the case of the former, I’ve noticed that some spammers send emails to a victim with a “FROM” label indicating the victim themselves sent it. For each and every delivery. It’s a way to avoid being blocked as an unknown sender. In the latter, sometimes a spammer will pick one of the recipients in a block of transmissions as the lucky faux originator. And in a few rare cases, there have been genuine [joe jobs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_job), where the intent of falsely identifying someone as the sender is slanderously malicious. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/3 "2016-05-04T23:44:49Z")
I received two emails from [carnivorousplant@isp.com](mailto:carnivorousplant@isp.com) at another or my email accounts. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/4 "2016-05-04T23:46:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I received two emails from [carnivorousplant@isp.com](mailto:carnivorousplant@isp.com) at another or my email accounts. Cancel the other account. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/5 "2016-05-04T23:55:21Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Cancel the other account. Meh. I keep the ISP dial up account to keep permanent email addresses. The Dope didn’t like the account because it went through gmail for a while, and names didn’t match up. “[Carnivorousplat.isp@gmail.com](mailto:Carnivorousplat.isp@gmail.com)”, or something like that. ISP is doing it’s own mail again. Besides, I might be on the lam in Levy, Arkansas with only dial up, and need an email address to beg you guys for money. :dubious: I’m running a virus scan as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/6 "2016-05-04T23:56:32Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I received two emails from [carnivorousplant@isp.com](mailto:carnivorousplant@isp.com) at another or my email accounts. Common practice amongst spammers and hackers to send e-mails to you that look like they came from you. The reason they do this is that it makes people curious enough to open the e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/7 "2016-05-05T00:02:13Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Common practice amongst spammers and hackers to send e-mails to you that look like they came from you. The reason they do this is that it makes people curious enough to open the e-mail. “See Drew Barrymore naked! Click here!” Yeah. I guess you called it. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/8 "2016-05-05T19:46:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “See Drew Barrymore naked! Click here!” :eek: I need a link! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-email-address-used-as-spam/753938/9 "2016-05-05T20:10:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > “See Drew Barrymore naked! Click here!” > [@Canadjun](#): > > :eek: I need a link! Playboy, Jan. '95.