MDaemon Technologies Blog

It’s alarming to discover that someone is sending emails that appear to come from your email address—especially if you didn’t send them. This situation can make you wonder if your email has been hacked. However, not all suspicious activity means you’ve been compromised. In many cases, your email address may simply be spoofed, not hacked.

In this post, we’ll explain the difference between spoofed, hacked, and infected email accounts, and share best practices to protect your email from spoofing and other threats.

✅ Spoofed vs. Hacked vs. Infected: What’s the Difference?

Understanding the difference between these scenarios is key to taking the right action.

💡 1. Spoofed Email

• What it is: Spoofing is when a scammer forges the "From" field in an email header to make it look like the message came from your address. However, they have no access to your account.
  
  
• Signs of spoofing:
  • You receive bounced messages you didn’t send.
    • 📌Tip: Enable Backscatter Protection to protect against unexpected auto-responders & bounced messages
  • Contacts report receiving strange emails from you.
  • You see your own email address in your inbox as the sender.
    
    
• Risk level: Low to moderate—annoying but not directly dangerous to your email account security.

🔓 2. Hacked Email

• What it is: A hacked account means someone has gained unauthorized access to your email. They may send messages, access sensitive information, or change settings.
  
  
• Signs of hacking:
  • You are locked out of your account.
  • You receive password reset emails you didn’t request.
  • Your Sent folder contains unknown or suspicious messages.
    
    
• Risk level: High—immediate action is required to secure your account.
  
  
• 📌Tip: Use Dynamic Screening to block suspicious hacking & password guessing activities, and Account Hijack Detection to prevent compromised email accounts from sending spam.

🦠 3. Infected Device

• What it is: If your computer or device is infected with malware, it can send spam or spoofed emails from your address. This can happen without compromising your actual email account.
  
  
• Signs of infection:
  • Slow performance or unusual crashes.
  • Pop-ups and strange ads appear frequently.
  • Your antivirus or security software flags malware.
    
    
• Risk level: High—your device and sensitive data could be compromised.

🔐 Best Practices to Protect Your Email Address from Spoofing

Although you can’t prevent all spoofing attempts, you can reduce their effectiveness and protect your email from being easily exploited.

✅ 1. Enable SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Authentication

These three protocols help verify that emails from your domain are legitimate:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Prevents spammers from sending emails on behalf of your domain by specifying which servers are authorized.
  
  • 📌 Click here to learn how to enable SPF verification in MDaemon and configure an SPF record.
    
    
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds a digital signature to your emails to confirm they came from your domain.
  • 📌 How to enable DKIM signing in MDaemon & configure DKIM records.
    
    
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): Combines SPF and DKIM to instruct mail servers on how to handle unauthenticated messages.
  • 📌 How to enable DMARC and configure DMARC records.
  • 📌DMARC Deployment Best Practices

🔒 2. Use Strong, Unique Passwords and Enable Two-factor Authentication (2FA)

Even if spoofing isn’t hacking, securing your email is still critical:

• Use complex, unique passwords for your email (Learn more here)
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of protection.
• Use app passwords to protect against hackers & brute force attacks

🛡️ 3. Monitor Your Email Reputation

Use tools like:

• Use MXToolbox to monitor your domain reputation.
• Check blocklists to ensure your domain hasn’t been flagged.

🚫 4. Educate Yourself and Your Contacts

Spoofed emails often contain phishing links or attachments. Educate your contacts on how to recognize and report suspicious emails.

• To learn more,  read our 10 Tips to Identify a Phishing Email

🛑 What to Do If Your Email Is Spoofed

If you suspect your email address is being spoofed:

1. Don’t panic—your account likely hasn’t been hacked.
2. Verify your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings.
3. Warn your contacts that spoofed emails are being sent using your address.
4. Mark spoofed emails as spam to help your provider identify and filter them.

💡 Key Takeaway

If someone is spoofing your email address, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve been hacked. Spoofing is a form of deception that doesn’t require access to your account. By understanding the difference between spoofed, hacked, and infected emails, and by applying best practices like SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication and strong security measures, you can better protect your email identity and reduce the risk of falling victim to fraud.

🚀 Stay vigilant, and keep your inbox safe!