Why am I getting bouncebacks for messages I did not send?
If you are receiving a large number of bouncebacks for emails that you did not send, or from email addresses that show your domain but don't exist, you may have been "Joe jobbed."
A Joe job, or "Joeing," is an email spoofing technique where a spammer sends huge volumes of email messages that appear to be from someone other than the actual source. Spammers often use a random address in their spam list as the "from" address to disguise the true source.
Here are some ways you can protect yourself and your email account from being Joe jobbed.
- Don't unsubscribe from a spam email. That lets spammers know they have a valid email address.
- Create a separate email address strictly for use on websites.
- Temporarily disable the catch-all feature from your email account, if it is enabled to prevent your inbox from being flooded with bouncebacks to false messages. For more information, see What is a catch-all email account? and Setting Up a Catch-all Email Account.
- Set up an SPF record to prevent further abuse of your domain. For more information, see Managing DNS for Your Domain Names.
