Been Getting Strange Junk Emails

[Kiki61]

Been getting strange junk emails addressed to me (I use Mail), but in the address section it not only has my email address, but next to it there is a strange gmail address (which I don't recognize) enclosed inside carats. Also, when you pull down the info tab, that address shows up as well. Seems to have started in the past couple of days.

Any clues as to what's going on? Has my email been hacked? None of my emails from legit sources have this.

Anything I can do? Notify my ISP?

Edit: Since posting this, I have gone back and now found earlier examples, addressed to someone with a different name than me, with another strange gmail address. I didn't catch these, as I always dump spam off to the trash folder instantly.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Your email probably has not been hacked. Seeing your own address in the from line is pretty common with certain spam emails. The from line is simple to make say pretty much anything.

Be safe and change your email password, and send the messages to junk. Don't stress about it.

Lately it seems that spam comes to me in spurts. I'll see several a day of the same general type of message for a few days, then it quiets down for a several weeks. Basically someone bought your email address, they'll spam it as much as they can until the email services catch on, then they get shut down. Repeat ad nauseam.

 

[Kiki61]

I realize now that I didn't elaborate fully - The strange addresses are in the "To:" line, and not the "From:" line.
My apologies for that.

Actually now, I wondering maybe why I was seeing differing addresses than mine in the "To:" line is maybe the result of a blind carbon copy situation from a mass spam mailing. As before, I normally don't check the Recipient lines in junk emails, just the Sender lines to make sure it's really who it's supposed to be, thus my confusion at what I'm seeing.

 

[pmiles]

Sadly, eventually the only way to quash unwanted spam is to change your email address. Once they have you on their mailing lists, the problem tends to grow exponentially.

This is why a lot of people have their own domains... it allows them endlessly create and delete email addresses once the spammers have zeroed in on them. It's actually the only effective way to defeat them.