Thread: A phishy e-mail

Phishing, the practice of attempting to obtain users' credit card or online banking information, often incorporates e-mail spoofing, For example, a phisher may send an e-mail that looks as if it has come from the bank's or credit card's administrative department, asking the user to log onto a Web page [which purports to be the bank's or credit card company's site but is really set up by the phisherJ and enter passwords, account numbers, and other personal information, Whatever the motive, the objective of spoofed mail is to hide the real identity of the sender, This can be done because the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [SMTP] does not require authentication [unlike some other more secure protocolsJ.



A sender can use a fictitious return address or a valid address that belongs to someone else, Receiving mail from spoofed addresses ranges from annoying to dangerous if you become a victim of phishing. Having your own address spoofed can be even worse. If a spammer uses your address as the return address, you may suddenly find yourself inundated with angry complaints from recipients or
even have your address added to "spammer" lists that results in your mail being banned from many servers.