Are these Emails Attempts to damage My PC?

  • Hi there and welcome to PC Help Forum (PCHF), a more effective way to get the Tech Support you need!
    We have Experts in all areas of Tech, including Malware Removal, Crash Fixing and BSOD's , Microsoft Windows, Computer DIY and PC Hardware, Networking, Gaming, Tablets and iPads, General and Specific Software Support and so much more.

    Why not Click Here To Sign Up and start enjoying great FREE Tech Support.

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
Status
Not open for further replies.
User101

User101

PCHF Member
Sep 16, 2016
105
20
44
I received half a dozen emails today which Outlook shows the "To" as being not my email address (I also received about ten other emails mixed in with those that DID show the correct "To" 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 "To" address, and this is what I retrieved from selecting "Options" on the email:
(I had already opened a couple of these emails before I realized what the "To" address said, so using the "Options" 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 "color" selector is not working. I can't get the "pink" to show for the Outlook "To". 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

2) 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
 
As I wrote above, these are legitimate emails coming from known, legitimate sources. Therefore, they are by definition legitimately considered "expected". 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 "expected". The email that I opened (before noticing the "To:" address) from CVS was perfectly legitimate and not "spoofed". I am sure the others are, as well. My question was do these "To: addresses"/information I listed mean that someone has hacked into these legitimate, non-"spoofed" 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 "ABC's" of email handling - "don't open unexpected emails" - is neither germane nor helpful.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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!
 
  • Like
Reactions: gus
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom