# Why do we keep getting spam that isn't even addressed to us? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516 "2008-02-06T14:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/1 "2008-02-06T14:42:47Z")
Normally the mail we receive in our main Hotmail account will say something like this, when you open it: > [@](#): > > Church Leaders Intelligence Report Enclosed - 02.06.08‏ > From: Church Leaders (ChurchLeaders @ [nc.churchleaders.com](http://nc.churchleaders.com)) > Sent: Wed 2/06/08 7:53 AM > To: Better Half Goose (Bgoose @ [hotmail.com](http://hotmail.com)) But ever since Hotmail’s last “hey lookie us!” bells-n-whistles upgrade (insert one tiny rolleyes smilie here), I’ve been finding intercepted spam in the Junk mail box that looks like this: > [@](#): > > Sword held high above the ground,‏ > From: Evangelina Hyde (bgcuf925 @ [inbox.ru](http://inbox.ru)) > Medium riskYou may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe > Sent: Tue 2/05/08 2:51 PM > Reply-to: Evangelina Hyde (bgcuf925 @ [inbox.ru](http://inbox.ru)) > To: irishiiiize13 @ [yahoo.com](http://yahoo.com) You’ll notice that “irishiiize13 @ yahoo” bears absolutely no resemblance to “Bgoose @ hotmail”. So my question is, how does this stuff end up in our mailbox, if it isn’t addressed correctly? I thought an e-mail address had to be jot-and-tittle accurate, or else you get a “Mail undeliverable” message bounced back atcha. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/2 "2008-02-06T14:45:29Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] You’ll notice that “irishiiize13 @ yahoo” bears absolutely no resemblance to “Bgoose @ hotmail”. So my question is, how does this stuff end up in our mailbox, if it isn’t addressed correctly? I thought an e-mail address had to be jot-and-tittle accurate, or else you get a “Mail undeliverable” message bounced back atcha. [/QUOTE] Do you have your settings so that you can see all the **cc** s and **bcc** s? Chances are your address is on one of those lines, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/3 "2008-02-06T15:02:27Z")
It’s a very common technique (both for spam and for non-spam messages) for all the recipients to be BCC (blind carbon copy), so that each recipient cannot see a list of the other recipients. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/4 "2008-02-06T15:03:41Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Do you have your settings so that you can see all the **cc** s and **bcc** s? Chances are your address is on one of those lines, I’d think. [/QUOTE] You won’t be able to see the BCCs - by design. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/5 "2008-02-06T15:09:27Z")
As \*\*Mangetout \*\*and \*\*Giles \*\*already noted, there is nothing surprising about getting a mail that isn’t explicitly addressed to you – it means your address was put in the BCC field by the sender (probably in some kind of attempt to make the recipient (“to:”) field look legit and bypass spam filters. Doesn’t work :)) The question is whether you’re now getting suspected spam that you weren’t getting before (which may mean that hotmail doesn’t completely nuke some messages they did before, and gives _you_ the option to decide if it’s “real” or not) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/6 "2008-02-06T15:14:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] You won’t be able to see the BCCs - by design. [/QUOTE] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/7 "2008-02-06T15:40:03Z")
When I receive a BCC email, it says “Envelope-To: toadspittle @ [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com).” Do you have an “Envelope-To” line in your e-mail? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/8 "2008-02-06T16:00:26Z")
[QUOTE=toadspittle] When I receive a BCC email, it says “Envelope-To: toadspittle @ [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com).” Do you have an “Envelope-To” line in your e-mail? [/QUOTE] Envelope-To is not a standard header. Some mail software can be configured to add it upon delivery, including adding it to messages delivered via bcc. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/9 "2008-02-06T16:22:53Z")
Addendum - they should more properly do it as “X-Envelope-To”, since it’s a non-standard informational header, and some mail software does this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/10 "2008-02-06T16:55:25Z")
Ah. BCC explains all. Bastard spammers. Thank you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/11 "2008-02-06T18:03:06Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Bastard spammers. [/QUOTE] You can say that again. I recently had a change made to my domain hosting and in the shuffle, all spam controls were removed for a few days. With the controls in place, I typically get 500 spams per day. WithOUT them, I got 36,000 per day. For all I know, my mailbox may have filled up repeatedly and prevented more from coming in. Just think – spammers are still making money even though I have never responded, clicked on, or purchased anything from them in 10 years. And I’m probably typical of Internet users. So there must be a lot of dunderheads out there supporting these bastids in a royal manner. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-keep-getting-spam-that-isnt-even-addressed-to-us/436516/12 "2008-02-06T18:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] You can say that again. I recently had a change made to my domain hosting and in the shuffle, all spam controls were removed for a few days. With the controls in place, I typically get 500 spams per day. WithOUT them, I got 36,000 per day. For all I know, my mailbox may have filled up repeatedly and prevented more from coming in. Just think – spammers are still making money even though I have never responded, clicked on, or purchased anything from them in 10 years. And I’m probably typical of Internet users. So there must be a lot of dunderheads out there supporting these bastids in a royal manner. [/QUOTE] The key point is that it costs practically nothing to mail the spam. Even a very, very low hit rate will pay them back. It’s far worse than postal direct mail, which shares some of the same features - even though most people toss junk mail in the waste basket, it’s such a cheap form of advertising that exceedingly low response rates will pay for it. This is why imposing a small “postage fee” on email might solve the problem, irritating, technically problematic, and intrusive a solution as that is. I’m inclined to believe it would be a cure worse than the disease.