Email Spoofing and Undeliverable Notices

Email spoofing happens when someone forges the "from" address on a message so it looks like it came from your address. If you've noticed a flood of undeliverable or bounce notices in your inbox, spoofing is the most likely cause — and it's usually a temporary, resolvable situation rather than a sign your account has been compromised.

What Spoofing Means for You

Note: Spoofing is typically a temporary issue that resolves within a few weeks, once the spammer moves on to another address. It's frustrating in the meantime, but a high volume of bounce or undeliverable notices generally does not mean your account has been compromised.

Step 1: Rule Out a Compromised Device

Run a full virus scan on your computer. This confirms you haven't picked up malware or a virus, and helps rule out the possibility that your account itself has been compromised.

Step 2: Update Your Email Password

Once your scan comes back clean, update your email password through your webmail. Choose a strong, unique password.

Note: Hover recommends running regular anti-virus scans and changing your email password every six months to help keep your account secure.

After completing these steps, you should see fewer undeliverable messages arrive in your inbox as the changes take effect.

Step 3: Filter Out Undeliverable Notices (Optional)

To reduce inbox clutter while the spoofing runs its course, set up a filter to move undeliverable messages into a holding folder. See Using Webmail Settings at Hover for instructions on creating and managing mail filters.

How to Reduce the Chance of Being Spoofed Again

• Avoid posting your full email address online. If you need to share it, write it in an obfuscated format like youremail(at)yourdomain(dot)com.
• Avoid suspicious mailing lists and other services that ask for your email address.
• Avoid reusing passwords across multiple accounts and services.
• Avoid public or unsecured Wi-Fi when traveling or working away from home.

Note: It's usually not possible to pin down exactly where a spoofed message originated. Spoofed mail is often sent from other infected computers, which spammers quickly abandon — so the sending IP address changes frequently, making the source hard to trace.

Spoofing is typically a temporary issue. Keeping your account secure and your password up to date will help you see fewer spam or spoofed messages over time.

Next steps

• Set up an SPF record for your own domain to help prevent your address from being used to spoof others — see Creating an SPF Record.
• Learn what a phishing attempt looks like — see Identifying Fraudulent Emails.
• Have more general questions about spam? See Spam Emails FAQ.

Questions? Contact Hover Support.