Spyware, viruses, & security forum: Someone is sending out mail with my hotmail addy.

Many viruses have the ability to find e-mail addresses ANYWHERE on an infected machine and place that e-mail address in the "From" line of the infected messages it sends out..As a result, the mail appears like it's coming from you but in fact came from an infected machine somewhere else. Your e-mail address IS somewhere on an infected machine and it might not even be one of your regular e-mail receivers..If ANYONE forwarded one of your mail messages, then your address may have been placed on that infected computer.

If the infected mail is detected by an ISP as an infected message, or if the "To" address is invalid, then it will be blocked and you will receive the return message.

Contacting Hotmail will accomplish little. The problem is bad enough that ISP's have little control over the situation..I know of some individuals that had to change their e-mail addresses when the problem go bad enough..

Your best bet is to simply delete the messages immediately upon receiving them..

Hope this helps.

Grif

I wouldn't change my address for that small a problem. I have had spurts of such emails, but i just delete as Grif recommended and keep on. Unless you get totally inundated with these I would just keep on trucking.