What is "spoofing"?

What is "spoofing"?

Hacker X (Computer Security Expert) gives expert video advice on: What are some of the most common phishing emails and how do they work?; What do scammers do with the information they get by phishing?; Does virus protection software really work? and more...

Spoofing is the act of sending an email to a recipient, or a group of recipients, by covering the actual sender's identification and making it look like it came from someone else. You can make it look like a spoof email came from anybody else. You can make a spoof email look like it came from the person that is the recipient. You can make the spoof email look like it came from somebody in the government, somebody, a corporation. Basically, anywhere. So, to the common layman, when they get a spoof, they're getting a piece of e-mail that looks like it's coming from whoever the spoofer is intending it to come from. There are several ways to recognize e-mail that's really spoofed. One of the most common is that the content of the spoof really has nothing to do with the entity that sent it to you. The spoof is being sent from a senator, but it's about a vitamin that you can purchase. Or the spoof is being sent by a government agency, but it's about some stock you should buy.