What Is Email Spoofing? How Does Spoofing Work?

The word “spoof” means “falsify.” A spoofed email is one in which the sender knowingly changes parts of the email to look as though it was written by someone else. Typically, the sender’s name or email address and the body of the message are structured to appear as though they are from a genuine source such as a bank, a newspaper, or a genuine company on the web. Sometimes, the “spoofer” makes the email appear to come from a private citizen.

Why Would Someone Spoof An Email?

There are a couple of reasons people spoof the emails you receive:

• The phishing “spoofer” is trying to get a hold for your passwords and login names. Phishing occurs when the false sender tries to lure you into trusting the email. A false (spoofed) website may be waiting off to the side, cleverly disguised to appear to be a real online bank website or paid web service. Far too often, victims innocently believe the spoofed email and click through to the false website. Trusting the spoofed website, victims enter their password and login identity, only to receive a false error message that the website is unavailable. During all of this, the “spoofer” captures the victim’s personal info and uses it to withdraw the victim’s funds or achieve lying transactions for financial gain.
• The email “spoofer” is a spammer trying to hide his exact identity while still filling your mailbox with advertising. Using a mass-mailing software called ratware, spammers alter the basic email address to appear to be from an innocent citizen, a real company, or a government entity. The purpose, like phishing, is to get people to trust the email enough so that they open it and read the spam advertising inside.

How Are Emails Spoofed?

Untruthful users alter different segments of an email to disguise the true sender. Examples of properties that can be spoofed include:

• FROM name/address
• REPLY-TO name/address
• RETURN-PATH address
• SOURCE IP address

The first three properties can be easily altered by using settings in Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, or other email software. The fourth property, the IP address, can also be altered but doing so requires refined user knowledge to make a false IP address convincing.

Are Emails Spoofed Manually By Dishonest People?

While some spoof-altered emails are falsified by hand, the great majority of spoofed emails are created by special software. The use of mass-mailing ratware programs is widespread among spammers. Ratware programs sometimes run massive built-in word lists to create thousands of target email addresses, spoof a basic email, and then blast the spoof email to those targets. Other times, ratware programs take illegally acquired lists of email addresses and then send junk emails to them.

How Do I Recognise And Defend Against Spoof Emails?

As with any con game in life, your best defense is skepticism. If you don’t believe that an email is truthful or that the sender is genuine, don’t click on the link and type your email address. If there is a file attachment, don’t open it lest it contains a virus payload. If the email seems too good to be true, then it probably is, and your skepticism will save you from divulging your banking information.