Are these Emails Attempts to damage My PC?

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  • User101
    PCHF Member
    • Sep 2016
    • 103

    #1

    Are these Emails Attempts to damage My PC?

    I received half a dozen emails today which Outlook shows the β€œTo” as being not my email address (I also received about ten other emails mixed in with those that DID show the correct β€œTo” address in Outlook). The senders are legitimate but I’m questioning whether somewhere along the way someone somehow grabbed these emails and inserted something dangerous into them. Here are three of them - this is what Outlook is showing as the β€œTo” address, and this is what I retrieved from selecting β€œOptions” on the email:
    (I had already opened a couple of these emails before I realized what the β€œTo” address said, so using the β€œOptions” to see the header would not open something that had not already been opened. I also ran anti-virus and anti-malware scans after opening the first one and they came back negative)

    The β€œcolor” selector is not working. I can’t get the "pink" to show for the Outlook β€œTo”. It is th efirst line in each of three samples.

    1) To: h.r@alph142.prodigy.net
    by alph142.prodigy.net (8.14.4 IN altR5 TLS/8.14.4) with ESMTP id v29DLQsK029820
    1. To: h.r@flph398.prodigy.net
      by flph398.prodigy.net (8.14.4 IN altR5 TLS/8.14.4) with ESMTP id v29IUqOh032740

    3) To: h.r@alph152.prodigy.net
    by alph152.prodigy.net (8.14.4 IN altR5 TLS/8.14.4) with ESMTP id v29FEsxd011178

    Thank you
  • jmarket
    PCHF Owner
    • Jan 2015
    • 7634

    #2
    Best security practice: Don’t open emails you aren’t expecting

    Comment

    • system
      PCHF Owner
      • Jan 2015
      • 7634

      #3
      Originally posted by jmarket
      Best security practice: Don’t open emails you aren’t expecting
      And the most basic..

      Comment

      • User101
        PCHF Member
        • Sep 2016
        • 103

        #4
        As I wrote above, these are legitimate emails coming from known, legitimate sources. Therefore, they are by definition legitimately considered β€œexpected”. One can not say precisely when a Lands’ End, or a CVS, or a friend is going to send an email to me. But as they do send them regularly, they can be β€œexpected”. The email that I opened (before noticing the β€œTo:” address) from CVS was perfectly legitimate and not β€œspoofed”. I am sure the others are, as well. My question was do these β€œTo: addresses”/information I listed mean that someone has hacked into these legitimate, non-β€œspoofed” emails and embedded something? I put out the email detail above because I respect the knowledgeable people on this forum and would greatly appreciate some expert opinions about this. Telling me the β€œABC’s” of email handling - β€œdon’t open unexpected emails” - is neither germane nor helpful.

        Comment

        • veeg
          PCHF Director
          • Jul 2016
          • 8982

          #5
          Maybe this will help.
          Why you don't need your anti-virus to scan your email - A Cloudeight Information Avenune Tutorial

          Comment

          • jmarket
            PCHF Owner
            • Jan 2015
            • 7634

            #6
            To answer your question, no it is not harmful. They are merely IDs sent out by the SMTP server to identify emails.

            It is very unlikely the emails were intercepted, modified, then resent to you.

            Comment

            • plodr
              PCHF Member
              • Aug 2016
              • 1021

              #7
              I get emails from people I know. Yet, these emails are not sent by them. I suspect the computer was infected, all addresses in the address book were stolen and bogus email sent.

              If I choose to open them (I don’t open the ones with no subject or a forward in them because I don’t know who sent it) all I see if a link. I then throw the email in the trash. NEVER click a link in an email!

              Comment

              • veeg
                PCHF Director
                • Jul 2016
                • 8982

                #8
                Any updates for us?

                Comment

                • veeg
                  PCHF Director
                  • Jul 2016
                  • 8982

                  #9
                  Any updates for us? After 48 hrs this thread will be closed.

                  Comment

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