Backscattering: Bounceback Spam

[mandy]

Spammers like to put fake information in their e-mail messages in order to sneak them past e-mail filters. Because e-mail filters now just delete messages that come from nonexistent domains, the spammers like to make their messages look like they come from real e-mail addresses. That means, if your e-mail address has been published on the Web somewhere, you're a prime candidate for backscattering.

The spammer finds your address, or sometimes even guesses it, and then puts it in the "from" line of his messages, sending them out to hundreds of thousands of recipients. When the spam gets sent to an address that is no longer active, it can sometimes be bounced back ... to you.

Although Sophos estimates that backscatter makes up just two percent or three percent of all spam, antispam vendors say these messages are on the rise lately...

full article: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.ph...;16;fpid;1

[accentnepal]

Yeah, someone thought up a clever new name for it - "backscatter" - and now we have a new problem. Doctors have made a career of that kind of thing.

I have gotten those returned messages and wondered about them. Not to worry it seems.

Three and four letter .coms are prone to this - the spammers know they are all taken so they can just go down the list and know that the domains are nearly all at least parked.