Have you ever opened an email, only to find that it’s blackmail that seems to come from your own email address? If so, you’re not alone. The good news is that the hacker most likely doesn’t have access to your data. Instead, scammers use a trick known as “spoofing” to fake your email. It's a lot like an envelope you put in the mail. You can write anything you want in the return address spot if you don't care that the post office won't be able to return the letter to you. The post office has no way of knowing whether you really live at the return address you wrote on the envelope. Some online services pay attention to the "From" address when you send an email, preventing you from sending one with a forged address. However, other tools let you fill in anything you want. It's as easy as creating your own email server. All a scammer needs is your email address, which they can buy from a data breach that contains it. Scammers send you emails that appear to come from your address to gain a sense of legitimacy. The scammer usually then claims to have compromising information about you or pictures taken from your webcam. They then threaten to release the data to your closest contacts unless you pay a ransom. If you do get a spoofed message from yourself, ignore it. Don’t click on any attachments or links, and don’t pay any demanded ransom. Just mark it as spam or phishing, or outright delete it. It’s not a bad idea to change your password and enable two-factor authentication to ward off further scams. If you keep receiving spoofed emails, consider switching to a different email provider.
