Odd emails purporting to be from MSN Hotmail regarding abuse

June 16, 2004 10:11 AM

I've just received some odd emails perporting to be from MSN Hotmail regarding abuse and I was wondering what I should do about them [more inside]

I haven't contacted Hotmail about anything -- I used to have an account but I haven't checked it in ages. But now I have these two emails -- I suspect they're either spam or something sinister is going on. Has anyone else had something similar? They are both from the email address [e-mail]. Here is the text of the first:

This is an auto-generated response designed to let you know that our system received your support inquiry and a Support Representative will review your question and respond to you soon. Please note that you will not receive a reply if you respond directly to this message.

Thank you for contacting MSN Hotmail Support.

Remember that MSN Hotmail also has comprehensive online help available--just click "Help" in the upper right corner.

... and the second ...

"This is an auto-generated response designed to answer your question as quickly as possible. Please note that you will not receive a reply if you respond directly to this message.

Unfortunately, we cannot take action on the mail you sent us because it does not reference a Hotmail account. Please send us another message that contains the full Hotmail e-mail address and the full e-mail message to:
[e-mail]

>>> To forward mail with full headers

Using Hotmail:
1. Click "Options" to the right of the "Contacts" tab. The "Options" page appears.
2. Under "Additional Options", click "Mail Display Settings". The "Mail Display Settings" page appears.
3. Under "Message Headers", select "Full" and click "OK".
4. Forward the resulting mail to:
[e-mail]

Using MSN Explorer:
1. Open the message, and then click "More" in the upper right corner.
2. Click "Message Source". The message opens in a new window with all the header information visible.
3. Copy all the text and paste it into a new message. Send this message to:
[e-mail]

Using Outlook Express or Outlook:
1. On the unopened mail, place your cursor over the mail, right-click, and click "Options".
2. Under "Internet headers", copy the contents of the full header.
3. Open the e-mail in question and forward a complete copy of the message, including the full message header you copied at the beginning of your message, to:
[e-mail]

If you're not a Hotmail member, consult the Help associated with your e-mail program to determine how to view complete header information. Then forward the message to:
[e-mail]

If the unsolicited junk e-mail or "spam" comes from a non-Hotmail account, you can send a complaint to the service provider that sent the mail. Make sure that you include full headers when you send your complaint.

In the full header, look at the last "Received" notation to locate what .com domain it came from. It looks something like:
[service provider domain name].com

Forward a complete copy of the message, including the full message header, to:
abuse@[service provider domain name].com

If the domain does not have an abuse service, forward your complaint to:
webmaster@[service provider domain name].com

All Hotmail customers have agreed to MSN Website Terms of Use and Notices(TOU) that forbid e-mail abuse. At the bottom of any page in Hotmail, click "Terms of Use" to view the Terms of Use document in its entirety.

Thank you for helping us enforce our TOU.

So is it an error on their part -- what could happen if I do email [e-mail] -- more spam than I already receive from some miscellaneous hotmail account or something else.

I should point out that on both emails, the subject line simply says 'Hello'

posted by feelinglistless to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Response by poster: I should also mention that I have no idea how Hotmail could have gotten hold of the email address that these were sent to ...
posted by feelinglistless at 10:24 AM on June 16, 2004

It's probably an auto-reply generated by some fuckwit sending massive amounts of spam from your address. Not worth worrying about.
posted by astruc at 10:29 AM on June 16, 2004

I think posting the headers would help people figure out what's going on there. Hotmail still lets you access email headers, last I checked.
posted by reklaw at 10:39 AM on June 16, 2004

Sounds like a standard byproduct of any number of e-mail viruses. Each day, I get 5-20 such autoreplies from various corporate e-mail services. Do like me and ignore them.
posted by waldo at 11:35 AM on June 16, 2004

Response by poster: I think posting the headers would help people figure out what's going on there. Hotmail still lets you access email headers, last I checked.

Sorry, should have mentioned -- it wasn't sent to any kind of Hotmail account -- it was sent to my Btopenworld address ... curiouser and curiouser
posted by feelinglistless at 12:05 PM on June 16, 2004

Somebody who has your address in the address book gets a virus. The virus repeatedly spams the address book, and forges a random name from the address book as the sender. Recipient sends auto-reply. Delete 'em.
posted by theora55 at 1:43 PM on June 16, 2004