Help! Mortgage spammer is using my e-mail addresses

[sybylla]

as the "reply to" address and I'm getting all his failed mail in my inbox. Got 70+ undeliverables on Friday and another 227 since then.

Anyone have any ideas on how to stop it? Any suggestions for revenge? It's all the same message containing a website.

I'm getting them on two of my business e-mail accounts so changing addresses is a last resort.

[welshTerrier2]

1. couple of ideas ...

first, call your ISP ... they should be able to track down the source of the email and provide some help ... spam hurts them too ...

second, if all else fails, the following product might help ... it's a customizable email filter (not free though) that blocks spam before it ever reaches your computer ... i think it's more of a company-wide product than an individual product but not sure ... i've used it and it works great ...

here's the link: http://www.postini.com/

[Jersey Devil]

2. Some free spam bouncers here

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,5402,00.asp

I've used Mail Washer and it bounced the mail right back to them.

[Osamasux]

3. You've been spoofed.

Alert your ISP, so they don't cancel your account in response to complaints.

There are three scenarios:

1. Your PC has been hijacked (doubtful)
   
2. They got your email ID and password (doubtful)
   
3. They email is NOT going out from your account. It has just been manipulated to look that way.
   

The likely choice is 3. Your account was plucked at random from a list or a pilfered address book. Spammers use this method to defeat spam filters and avoid detection. There's nothing else that you can really do about the outgoing mail. Have your ISP check to see if it really did go out from your account (again, doubtful).

You can set up a filter to delete any incoming mail with that subject line. Also, set up a delete filter for the words "undeliverable" and "DAEMON", which are likely appearing in a lot of the reject notices.

The only good news I have is that they'll switch to someone else's account soon.

[sybylla]

4. Yeah, it's number 3

and my ISP couldn't care less. At least as far as the barely post-pubescent geek on the phone was concerned.

And I already did set up mail filters. I just don't need the barage of junk. I'm already getting enough without their bounced mail.

The one problem I'm concerned about is having my legit e-mails to customers, family and friends bounced because their ISP has put my company on a spammer list. It pisses me off to no end that I can't do anything even remotely resembling a good ass kicking on the bastard.

[Osamasux]

5. Maybe his day will come.

They've successfully prosecuted a few of the spammers recently and some have gotten significant jail time. It'll never go away, but it may slow the growth down.

If you have to, you can always open a temporary Yahoo or mail.com address to follow up on any mail you suspect got bounced.

Good luck!

http://www.computerweekly.com/Article134815.htm

[Flying Coyote]

6. That's because....

...they can't do anything about it if someone else wants to spoof your email address in their headers.