{"id":196534,"date":"2021-03-07T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/"},"modified":"2021-03-07T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-07T08:00:00","slug":"how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"#How Email Bombing Uses Spam to Hide an Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25b5bb68726\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a25b5bb68726\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/#What_Is_Email_Bombing\" >What Is Email Bombing?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/#Why_Is_This_Happening_to_You\" >Why Is This Happening to You?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/#What_to_Do_When_You_Get_Email_Bombed\" >What to Do When You Get Email Bombed<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/#You_Cant_Stop_The_Attack_But_You_Can_Wait_It_Out\" >You Can\u2019t Stop The Attack, But You Can Wait It Out<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#How Email Bombing Uses Spam to Hide an Attack&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-412423 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/email-bomb.jpg\" alt=\"Email Spamming Attack concept, showing many messages arriving at once.\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" data-credittext=\"Hanss\/Shutterstock\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-vector\/email-spamming-attack-spam-receive-many-710491888\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-vector\/email-spamming-attack-spam-receive-many-710491888\">Hanss\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you suddenly start receiving an endless stream of junk email, perhaps asking for confirmation of a sub<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>ion, you\u2019re the victim of email bombing. The perpetrator is probably trying to hide their real goal, so here\u2019s what to do.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_Email_Bombing\"><\/span>What Is Email Bombing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-412424 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/email-bombing-2.jpg\" alt=\"Young stressed handsome businessman working at desk in modern office shouting at laptop screen and being angry about e-mail spam. Collage with a mountain of crumpled paper.\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" data-credittext=\"Master1305\/Shutterstock\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/young-stressed-handsome-businessman-working-desk-1071449228\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/young-stressed-handsome-businessman-working-desk-1071449228\">Master1305\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An email bombing is an attack on your inbox that involves sending massive amounts of messages to your address. Sometimes these messages are complete gibberish, but more often they\u2019ll be confirmation emails for <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>letters and subscriptions. In the latter case, the attacker uses a script to search the internet for forums and newsletters and then signs up for an account with your email address. Each will send you a confirmation email asking to confirm your address. This process repeats across as many unprotected sites as the script can find.<\/p>\n<p>The term \u201cemail bombing\u201d can also refer to flooding an email server with too many emails in an attempt to overwhelm the email server and bring it down, but that\u2019s not the goal here\u2014it would be challenging to bring down modern email accounts that use Google or Microsoft\u2019s email servers, anyway. Instead of a denial-of-service (DOS) attack against the email servers you are using, the onslaught of messages is a distraction to hide the attacker\u2019s true intentions.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Is_This_Happening_to_You\"><\/span>Why Is This Happening to You?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>An email bombing is often a distraction used to bury an important email in your inbox and hide it from you. For example, an attacker may have gained access to one of your accounts on an online shopping website like Amazon and ordered expensive products for itself. The email bombing floods your email inbox with irrelevant emails, burying the purchase and shipping confirmation emails so you won\u2019t notice them.<\/p>\n<p>If you own a domain, the attacker may be attempting to transfer it away. If an attacker gained access to your bank account or an account on another financial service, they might be trying to hide confirmation emails for financial transactions as well.<\/p>\n<p>By flooding your inbox, the email bombing serves as a distraction from the real damage, burying any relevant emails about what\u2019s going on in a mountain of useless emails. When they stop sending you wave after wave of email, it may be too late to undo the damage.<\/p>\n<p>An email bombing may also be used to gain control of your email address. If you have a coveted address\u2014something straightforward with few symbols and a real name, for instance\u2014the entire point may be to frustrate you until you abandon the address. Once you give up the email address, the attacker can take it over and use it for their purposes.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_Do_When_You_Get_Email_Bombed\"><\/span>What to Do When You Get Email Bombed<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you find yourself the victim of email bombing, the first thing to do is check and lock down your accounts. Log into any shopping accounts, like Amazon, and check for recent orders. If you see an order that you didn\u2019t place, contact the shopping website\u2019s customer support im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely.<\/p>\n<p>You may want to take this a step further. On Amazon, it\u2019s possible to \u201carchive\u201d orders and hide them from the normal order list.\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/personalfinance\/comments\/bg2my9\/if_you_start_suddenly_getting_emailspam_bombed\/\">One Reddit user<\/a>\u00a0discovered an email from Amazon confirming an order for five graphics cards with a total value of $1000 buried in an onslaught of incoming email. When they went to cancel the order, they couldn\u2019t find it. The attacker had\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/help\/customer\/display.html?nodeId=201988170&amp;tag=hotoge-20\">archived the Amazon order<\/a>, hoping that\u2019d help it go undetected.<\/p>\n<p>You can check for archived Amazon orders by going to Amazon\u2019s\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/css\/homepage.html\/ref=nav_youraccount_ya?tag=hotoge-20\">Your Account<\/a>\u00a0page and clicking on \u201cArchived Orders\u201d under \u201cOrdering and shopping preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-412415 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/your-account-archived-orders.png\" alt=\"Amazon your account dialog with callout around archived orders link.\" width=\"650\" height=\"391\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>While you\u2019re checking your shopping accounts, it would be wise to remove your payment options entirely. If the perpetrator is still waiting to break into your account and order something, they won\u2019t be able to.<\/p>\n<p>After you\u2019ve checked any site you\u2019ve provided payment information, double-check your bank and credit card accounts and look for any unusual activity. You should also contact your financial institutions and make them aware of the situation. They may be able to lock down your account and help you find any unusual activity. If you own any domains, you should contact your domain provider and ask for help locking down the domain so it can\u2019t be transferred away.<\/p>\n<p>If you discover an attacker has gained access to one of your websites, you should change your password on that website. Make sure you use strong, unique passwords for all your important online accounts. A password manager will help. If you can manage it, you should set up two-factor authentication for every site that offers it. This will ensure attackers can\u2019t gain access to an account\u2014even if they somehow get that account\u2019s password.<\/p>\n<p>Now that you\u2019ve secured your various accounts, it\u2019s time to deal with your email. For most email providers, the first step is to contact your email provider. Unfortunately, contacting Google is incredibly tricky. Google\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/contact\/\">contact page<\/a>\u00a0doesn\u2019t seem to offer a contact method for most Google users. If you\u2019re a paid <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/one.google.com\/support\">Google One subscriber<\/a> or <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gsuite.google.com\/support\/\">G Suite subscriber<\/a>, you can contact Google support directly. When digging through their many menus, we only found a direct method of contact when you have missing files in Google Drive.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-412416 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Google-Drive.png\" alt=\"Google Drive contact us for missing or deleted files option.\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s doubtful anyone from this support team can help with your problem. If you\u2019re on Gmail without a subscription, you\u2019re going to have to ride out the bombing. You can\u00a0create filters to clean out your inbox. Try to find something common in the emails you are receiving and set a few filters to move them to spam or trash. Just to be careful not to filter out emails you do want to see in the process.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re using an Outlook.com email, help is built into the website. Log into your email, then click on the Question mark in the upper right-hand corner.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-412417 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/outlook-step-1.png\" alt=\"Outlook.com site with arrow pointing to question mark\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Type something like \u201cI\u2019m getting email bombed\u201d and click \u201cGet help.\u201d You\u2019ll be given an \u201cemail us\u201d option, then follow with that.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-412419 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/outlook-steps-2.png\" alt=\"Outlook.com help with callouts around get help text and email us option.\" width=\"650\" height=\"300\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>You won\u2019t get immediate relief, but support will hopefully contact you to help. In the meantime, you\u2019ll want to create rules to filter out the junk you\u2019re receiving.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re using a different email provider, try to contact them directly and set up filters. In any case, don\u2019t delete your account or your email address. Gaining control of your email address might actually be what the attacker truly wants. Giving up your email address gives them an avenue to achieving that goal.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You_Cant_Stop_The_Attack_But_You_Can_Wait_It_Out\"><\/span>You Can\u2019t Stop The Attack, But You Can Wait It Out<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Ultimately, there\u2019s nothing you can do to stop the attack yourself. If your email provider can\u2019t or won\u2019t help, you\u2019ll have to endure the attack and hope it stops.<\/p>\n<p>Just be aware you may be in for a long haul. While email bombings sometimes trail off after a day, they can go on as long the perpetrator wants or has the resources for. It may be a good idea to contact anyone important, make them aware of what\u2019s going on, and provide another way to contact you. Eventually, either your attacker will get what they want or realize you\u2019ve taken the steps to prevent them from succeeding and move on to an easier target.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/412316\/how-email-bombing-uses-spam-to-hide-an-attack\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#How Email Bombing Uses Spam to Hide an Attack&#8221; Hanss\/Shutterstock If you suddenly start receiving an endless stream of junk email, perhaps asking for confirmation of a subscription, you\u2019re the victim of email bombing. The perpetrator is probably trying to hide their real goal, so here\u2019s what to do. What Is Email Bombing? Master1305\/Shutterstock An&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/email-bomb.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}