Do you also receive fake mails?

I am wondering how could you get a pass word in foreign language? Please elaborate.

I would like that if I happen to send you a mail, you must receive it and respond to it.

Hi Jai! It means you are facing the opposite problem . You may open a new mail ID and can send it your those friends, whose mails you do not receive sometimes.

never mind...as long as i can received yours

That's a good explanation, HWG. There are many ways in which spammers get valid email addresses and the one you describe is one of the older ones. I notice that many email providers have got wise to this method and that such emails stuffed with clearly invented addresses are less common than they used to be. Lists of genuine and verified email addresses are at a premium amongst spammers and there is a thriving market in CDs of hundreds of thousands of email addresses. It is only a matter of time before anyone's email address appears on such CDs and does the rounds of the spammers. These lists are compiled by professional email harvesters and one way in which your address may be included is through one of those 'round robin' emails ("Please send this on to all/at least 15 friends/let everyone know about this/..."). Most of us know that they are quite stupid and pointless but there are enough people who think that it does no harm to spread it around just in case they get lucky or because the information seems important. If you ever RECEIVE one of these mails from a friend, the damage is already done because your email address (along with hundreds of others) will appear in every copy of that mail forwarded from then on! Eventually, these mails end up in the inbox of someone who is a 'harvester' (they masquerade as friendly people in chat rooms who claim to love these jokes, threats, 'lucky charm' and [hoax] information mails and encourage people to forward them to them). Most of these mails have been forwarded many times and may contain hundreds of valid email addresses. A clever person can even work out who is a friend of whom because the 'chain' of people who forwarded it and to whom is easy to see! It is clearly to a spammer's advantage to make it look as though a mail comes from a friend of yours because you are much more likely to open it. This is incredibly easy to do by filling in the one of the fields (before the mail is sent) with a genuine email address from their list. Actually, anyone can do this and it is useful to those people who send mails from one address but want any replies to go to another address - the facility is available in most email clients but not in a way which would be practical for a spammer to use: as HWG has pointed out, they use specially designed software to compose and send their mails.

Hi HWG! You have explained the issue very well, which no other respondent did so far. I did not know that they are such computer programmes which automatically send mails using common name and then store the data in their record. I better delete the emails IDs of friends whose IDs are misused for sending links/spam mails. Many thanks for enlightening us and dropping in.

Owlwings, thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Wow obtaining email addresses as you kindly explained shows that many will devote their time as a full time job. Wow how sad, though as several do fall for the fake emails and this is really their intentions when sending them out.

Will you please elaborate your point, mentioned at para 2 of your response. I agree that it could be any reason but I face this problem.

Which mail service do you use and how do you block ?

Hi Step! I also want to know how do you block such mails? Do you receive such mails where email ID of your friend is used?

Hi Sree! The incidents which you have narrated appear very scary and could cause lots of tension, if one does not reach the truth. Using someone's boss's email could make the mail look like a genuine one and if one is unable to contact the boss, it can cause trouble. I have taken note of your suggestions regarding changing the password. I do not open the link, even if by chance I happen to open the email. I have deleted the emails IDs of my friens, whose IDs are misued for sending mails. Many thanks for dropping in.

Thank you for the BR though it is much awaited and non informing. I seen my BR through profile visit.

Hi cel! If the mails go directly to junk mail bin, then it is OK, however, if they come in one's inbox, then it gets irritating. It is good to hear that you enjoy using yahoo mail. Hope they will be happy to read your response.

Yes, occasionally one slips by.

Hi Vandana! Please see our friend Hardworkinggril's response how we receive such mails. Thanks for dropping in.

Also see response at S.No.31

Hi m2s! It is good that such unwanted mails land in your junk box instead going to your inbox. You are wise that you do not open the links mentioned in such mails. Thanks for dropping in.

Hi all! It means you also became victim of fake mails and it caused you problems. You see communicating with such sites may be counter-productive, as they come to know that which active email ID you have been using and they may 'misuse' your ID or pass on the details to some other site.

I received a mail from this site saying they have deleted my account which incidentally I did not ask for. But just as well, as I would not want anything to do with sites that do not believe in ethics.

It means we are on the same boat. I agree that fake mails be marked as spam to avoid any future trouble. Thanks for joining us.

Yeah, your right.This fake mails is really annoying and gives us confusion sometimes.

Hi fanta! It is wise on your part that you do not read dubious mails. Sometimes fake mails could be troublesome.

Hi SV! You appear very lucky that you have not been become victim of such phishing mails. Thanks for dropping in.

You see one get tempted to open a mail from known email ID. After some experience, I have become cautious.

HI BB! OH My God! You were also the victim of this problem and you received the mail from your hubby's ID? It was good that you got to check the suspicious mail with your sister, else you would have kept wondering which pictures or site she was talking about. Thanks for dropping in. dpk How is your health now?

Hi Zandi! So we all face this problem. Please see our friend Hardworkinggril's response how we receive such mails. Thanks for dropping in.

OH I see, you also faced this kind of problem, which made you feel irritated. I have learnt a few lessons from this discussions and am going to apply them. Thanks for dropping in.

Mass mailing list could be a problem.