How can I block unseen outgoing messages?

[jmf@Orchid]

I use Outlook 2002 under Windows XP pro. I keep up with the updates so both
XP and Outlook have the latest patches.

There are times when I see a message being sent that I did not authorize. I
have the return receipt feature turned off.

There must be some way that a junk mail message is triggering this but how
do I prevent such an occurrance? I do not want any message leaving my
computer but those that I specifically create and send -- not an unreasonable
request, I believe. How can I accomplish this? I have looked through all of
the settings for Outlook that I can find.

Has anyone got any suggestions? (Besides trying a different email client.)

 

[Brian Tillman]

There are times when I see a message being sent that I did not
authorize. I have the return receipt feature turned off.

What is your evidence? If you can't see the messages, how do you know
they're being sent?

There must be some way that a junk mail message is triggering this
but how do I prevent such an occurrance?

Since Outlook 2002 doesn't HAVE any Junk E-mail features (except very
rudimentary ones), this isn't likely.

 

[jmf@Orchid]

Since Outlook 2002 doesn't HAVE any Junk E-mail features (except very

rudimentary ones), this isn't likely.

Thanks Brian but let me make myself a bit clearer. I am not referring to any
supposed feature of Outlook 2002. I am referring to the junk that come from
outside -- often referred to as spam. Something is causing Outlook to send
email messages without my consent and without my knowledge of the content of
the message. I wish to prevent this behavior. (BTW, I use a spam filter from
ZoneAlarm but that is beside the point.) I have turned off the return-receipt
feature and I still see messages leave my computer that I have not sent.

How can something trigger a message to be sent from Outlook? I don't care
what that something might be -- if it is not me sending the message then it
is a problem. More to the point, How can such a message be prevented since
they are not visible in the outbox?

 

[Brian Tillman]

How can something trigger a message to be sent from Outlook?

Receipt requests are about it.

 

[Pat Willener]

Thanks Brian but let me make myself a bit clearer. I am not referring to any
supposed feature of Outlook 2002. I am referring to the junk that come from
outside -- often referred to as spam. Something is causing Outlook to send
email messages without my consent and without my knowledge of the content of
the message. I wish to prevent this behavior. (BTW, I use a spam filter from
ZoneAlarm but that is beside the point.) I have turned off the return-receipt
feature and I still see messages leave my computer that I have not sent.

How can something trigger a message to be sent from Outlook? I don't care
what that something might be -- if it is not me sending the message then it
is a problem. More to the point, How can such a message be prevented since
they are not visible in the outbox?

But how do you *know* that "something" is being sent from Outlook? Do
you get non-delivery receipts for messages that you haven't sent? If so,
these are not sent from your Outlook; those are spam messages that had
your email address forged into the 'From' headers. Nothing you can do
about that.

 

[jmf@Orchid]

But how do you *know* that "something" is being sent from Outlook? Do
you get non-delivery receipts for messages that you haven't sent? If so,
these are not sent from your Outlook; those are spam messages that had
your email address forged into the 'From' headers. Nothing you can do
about that.

Hi Pat... Thank you for the reply. I know something is being sent because
the Outlook Send/Receive Progress box shows a message being sent from one of
my accounts when there is nothing in the outbox. The thing that bothers me
the most about all of this is that I have the return receipt turned off and
still this is happening. Outlook should not even be sending return receipts.
I do see some bounced messages; meaning that they were not deliverable. These
messages were to addresses that I would never send a message to. If indeed
thay are forged address headers I agree; there is nothing I can do about that
one. While annoying these are not the real issue. Outlook is sending messages
that I have not authorized -- that is the real issue.

Any further thoughts?

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

Thanks Brian but let me make myself a bit clearer. I am not
referring to any
supposed feature of Outlook 2002. I am referring to the junk that
come from
outside -- often referred to as spam. Something is causing Outlook
to send
email messages without my consent and without my knowledge of the
content of
the message. I wish to prevent this behavior. (BTW, I use a spam
filter from
ZoneAlarm but that is beside the point.) I have turned off the
return-receipt
feature and I still see messages leave my computer that I have not
sent.

How can something trigger a message to be sent from Outlook? I don't
care
what that something might be -- if it is not me sending the message
then it
is a problem. More to the point, How can such a message be prevented
since
they are not visible in the outbox?

If you don't see outlook.exe get loaded in the Processes tab of Task
Manager then something else, like a trojan mailer, is sending those
covert e-mails. So how do you "see" these supposedly *invisible*
e-mails are getting sent using Outlook? Do you see Outlook's window
appear by itself and do the sending? Have you enabled its
troubleshooting logging to check its logfile to see it is establishing
mail sessions when you don't expect any?

I don't know if your current anti-spam solution triggers on sending
e-mails without your permission (i.e., by using a legit e-mail
program). In Comodo's anti-virus (still in beta status), for it's
e-mail scanning, you can configure it to alert you if more than N
e-mails are getting sent within X seconds. Don't know what, if any,
firewall you use on your host. It might provide a log of connections
made by what applications so you could see if outlook.exe or something
else is connecting to your e-mail server or to another SMTP mail host.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I know something is being sent
because the Outlook Send/Receive Progress box shows a message being
sent from one of my accounts when there is nothing in the outbox.

You could always examine the Outbox using the techniques described here in
the link below. I know you said you have receipts disabled, but this will
make sure that's not the problem.
http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/deletereadreceipt.htm

 

[Pat Willener]

Hi Pat... Thank you for the reply. I know something is being sent because
the Outlook Send/Receive Progress box shows a message being sent from one of
my accounts when there is nothing in the outbox. The thing that bothers me
the most about all of this is that I have the return receipt turned off and
still this is happening. Outlook should not even be sending return receipts.
I do see some bounced messages; meaning that they were not deliverable. These
messages were to addresses that I would never send a message to. If indeed
thay are forged address headers I agree; there is nothing I can do about that
one. While annoying these are not the real issue. Outlook is sending messages
that I have not authorized -- that is the real issue.

Any further thoughts?

Just to be on the safe side, please run a malware scan on your system;
try http://housecall.trendmicro.com/