I got some spam. The sender was MY email address. Does this mean my computer is one of those zombie computers spewing out spam? How do you know if it is?
2007-06-09 15:06:30 · 8 answers · asked by Connie S 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
Changing the senders e-mail address is not hard, and more people will open something sent from what they think is from a family member on the computer.
2007-06-09 15:10:10 · answer #1 · answered by Chris Z 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pull the power cord out. If it's still alive, it's a zombie.
Or a laptop.
Or has a UPS.
Oh darn it, serious answer time. No, it just means the spammer used a particularly dumb computer program to send the spam.
If you're worried about your computer being infected, get a virus checker. There's a free ones called "AVG free" and "Avast", you can search for them.
2007-06-09 22:09:07 · answer #2 · answered by Nick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't worry. The "sender" field is faked in spam to get around spam blockers and to avoid the spammer being sued. It has nothing to do with the real source.
2007-06-09 23:20:16 · answer #3 · answered by Ted 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this explains zombies best
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_computer
You are only open to being a zombie if you are always hooked to the Internet via a LAN or a WAN. If you have a router then they can't use your computer. Most likely they just use you email as a return so they can't be traced. you are not a zombie.
2007-06-09 22:13:30 · answer #4 · answered by Jimmie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i suggest you get ad and spyware removal programs and clean out your system. you might not have a zombie computer as you put it. your email might have been cloned where it has your email addy but was not sent from your pc or the emails server. just cloned to look like it was sent from your email.
2007-06-09 22:11:28 · answer #5 · answered by Joseph D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow.
A zombie program so stupid it dialed itself. hahaha
Yeah, you COULD be infected.
OR
Someone who knows you could be infected and it is randemly replacing the sender email information with another email on their "friends list".
Either way, check you comp with a good virus program.
2007-06-09 22:10:08 · answer #6 · answered by special-chemical-x 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No it doesn't mean your computer is a zombie. Through SMTP one could fake email addresses.
It's so simple is sick. (For any doubters, please email zaki@nerdshack.com, I'll get back to you)
That's best case, as it's not your computer doing things.
Good luck, and switch to Linux! ^_^
2007-06-09 22:28:23 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, probably.
if its your email address, it either has become a zombie application, or it has been hacked.
2007-06-09 22:18:50 · answer #8 · answered by Michael C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋