Why do I receive spam from myself?

Q I have recently started to get emails apparently from my own email address and addressed to the same address. My copy of Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 correctly identifies them as spam.

Having changed my email password I contacted my broadband provider Tiscali which asked for the email headers as they were concerned about the problem.

However, they then said that they could offer no more help as the emails did not originate from a Tiscali address.

I regularly run scans of the computer and have not detected any virus or other problems. Is there any risk to my identity?

Roy Lubman

A There is nothing to worry about. This means spammers are using a fake version of your email address to try to fool your ISP’s email server and your anti-spam program into thinking that the spam emails are legitimate.

Clearly it has not worked in this case because your security program has identified them as spam messages. The spammers use a computer to automatically make their sent emails look like they are coming from your own address.

Each person who receives the message will see it as though it has come from their own address. Do not worry that other people will think that you are spamming them. It’s an annoyance, but there is no security breach here.

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