Odd Email Bounceback (that I'm Not Sending)

[DVDerek]

For the last week or so I've been getting a bounceback email that strikes me as very odd. Why is it odd? I have never sent email to the address it's going to! Here's the message I get my real address has been overwritten with MY_ADDRESS@MY_DOMAIN.net to protect... well... me:

 

>Subject:        Returned mail: User unknown
From:    "Mail Delivery Subsystem" <MAILER-DAEMON@aol.com>
Date:     Tue, May 4, 2004 1:57 pm
To:              MY_ADDRESS@MY_DOMAIN.net
Priority:     Normal

The original message was received at Tue, 4 May 2004 13:57:33 -0400 (EDT)
from dpvc-68-162-218-122.bos.east.verizon.net [68.162.218.122]


*** ATTENTION ***

Your e-mail is being returned to you because there was a problem with its
delivery.  The address which was undeliverable is listed in the section
labeled: "----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----".

The reason your mail is being returned to you is listed in the section
labeled: "----- Transcript of Session Follows -----".

The line beginning with "<<<" describes the specific reason your e-mail could
not be delivered.  The next line contains a second error message which is a
general translation for other e-mail servers.

Please direct further questions regarding this message to your e-mail
administrator.

--AOL Postmaster

  ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
<adamvolpe@aol.com>

  ----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to air-yd02.mail.aol.com.:
>>> RCPT To:<adamvolpe@aol.com>
<<< 550 MAILBOX NOT FOUND
550 <adamvolpe@aol.com>... User unknown

 

The message (as read in Squirrelmail) has two attachments. Here's the first:

 

>Reporting-MTA: dns; rly-yd01.mx.aol.com
Arrival-Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 13:57:33 -0400 (EDT)

Final-Recipient: RFC822; adamvolpe@aol.com
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
Remote-MTA: DNS; air-yd02.mail.aol.com
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 MAILBOX NOT FOUND
Last-Attempt-Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 13:57:55 -0400 (EDT)

 

Here is the second

 

>Received: from  Marketing.org (dpvc-68-162-218-122.bos.east.verizon.net
[68.162.218.122]) by rly-yd01.mx.aol.com (v99.12) with ESMTP id
MAILRELAYINYD18-1f24097d98b1dd; Tue, 04 May 2004 13:57:31 -0400
Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 13:57:31 -0500
To: adamvolpe@aol.com
Subject: Hey!
From: secretGurl@aol.com
Message-ID: <rstjjisatlqestwmgto@aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
       boundary="--------lyqyaprmjukealzaeszi"
X-AOL-IP: 68.162.218.122
X-AOL-SCOLL-SCORE: 0:XXX:XX
X-AOL-SCOLL-URL_COUNT: 0

 

So this looks like a Spam email. But why the hell is it bouncing back to me? Anyone have any ideas?

[TCH-Bruce]

Someone that has your email address on their machine is infected with one of the many viruses out there that is spoofing your email address as the from address.

 

Nothing you can do about it I'm afraid to say. I get them all the time. Just ignore and delete it.

[DVDerek]

Someone that has your email address on their machine is infected with one of the many viruses out there that is spoofing your email address as the from address.

 

Nothing you can do about it I'm afraid to say. I get them all the time. Just ignore and delete it.

Hah... you'd think that working in IT I would have thought of that! Duh! The subject and from address in the third quote just looked so much like spam that I jumped to that assumption. Thanks.