Technology

Why am I getting spam from my own email address how to stop it

Published

1 year ago

August 14, 2024

Why am I getting spam from my own email address how to stop it

Over the years, scammers have become very inventive in their efforts to swindle you out of your money, privacy, security and sanity.

They have pretended to be everything from your family, friends, employers, insurance companies and financial institutions.

Now, they are taking it a step further and sending emails from you. That’s right, these scammers are spoofing your email address to make it appear as though the emails you are receiving are coming from your own address.

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Illustration of a man upset over email spoofing (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

What is spoofing?

When scammers spoof your email address, they forge it to make it appear as if it is being sent from someone other than the original sender. Unfortunately, spoofing email addresses is quite easy, as most email service providers don’t check the legitimacy of what a sender inputs in the “From” field when sending an email.

Additionally, scammers can save a different name for any email address in their contacts and then use that. For instance, even if an email address is scammer@gmail.com, it can be saved in contacts with the first and last name of the contact as “John Smith.” When the email reaches the recipient, the recipient simply sees that they received an email from “John Smith.”

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Image of Mail app (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

THIS IS HOW YOUR EMAIL GETS INTO THE WRONG HANDS

Why do scammers spoof your email?

While it seems odd to send someone an email from their own address, it makes perfect sense to scammers. Below are two reasons why scammers use your own address to spam you:

1. Bypass spam filters: With their own email addresses likely to get flagged as spam or sent to the junk folder, they spoof your email address as it will likely get past the filters.
2. Appears legitimate: You are more likely to believe in the legitimacy of the email if it comes from what appears to be your own account.

Illustration of locking up your information (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

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What can I do to prevent spoofing?

Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to prevent someone from spoofing your email address, but you can take steps to protect yourself.

Check your email account: Double-check to make sure that this email did not come from your email account by checking the draft and sent folders. If you can check to see where you are logged on to your email account, make sure that your email account isn’t open on an unrecognizable device.

Secure your email account: If you don’t already have a strong, unique password and have two-factor authentication turned on, change your password and enable two-factor authentication. Also, consider using a password manager to generate and store complex passwords.

Don’t click links or respond: You know the drill: never click on any links or open any attachments. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.

Report spam: As annoying as it is, keep flagging and reporting these spam emails so that your email service provider can improve your spam filters.

Set up filters: If there are some common phrases or words used in these emails, set up a filter to flag and move emails with these characteristics into your spam or junk folder.

Contact your email service provider: Some email service providers have specific options such as tools or procedures for handling spoofed emails.

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Don’t reply to scammers: While it may be tempting to give these scammers a piece of your mind, resist the urge to reply to these scammers. It will only confirm that their email was able to bypass the filters and that you are indeed the owner of a valid, active email account.

Invest in personal data removal services: While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great for protecting your information from spammers and data brokers, as well as for constantly monitoring and automating the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.

HOW TO BLOCK THOSE UNWANTED AND ANNOYING SPAM EMAILS

Kurt’s key takeaways

It is no doubt exhausting to keep yourself safe from endless spam emails. Now, scammers are using your own name and email address against you. While it isn’t possible to keep your email address out of a scammer’s digital Rolodex because your emails are likely up for sale by data brokers, following the same simple steps listed in the article can keep you sane and safer.

Have you received a spam email from yourself? What’s the most believable spam email you received? What made you realize it was spam? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.

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Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on “FOX & Friends.” Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Technology

Apple just had a record-breaking iPhone quarter

Published

7 hours ago

January 29, 2026

Press Room

Apple just had a record-breaking iPhone quarter

Apple says the iPhone had its “best-ever” quarter, with revenue hitting more than $85.3 billion over the past few months. The company announced the news as part of its Q1 2026 earnings report, which also revealed record-breaking revenue of $143.8 billion, up 16 percent when compared to the same time last year.

“iPhone had its best-ever quarter driven by unprecedented demand, with all-time records across every geographic segment, and Services also achieved an all-time revenue record, up 14 percent from a year ago,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says in the press release.

Apple’s services revenue, which includes subscriptions like Apple Music, iCloud, and Apple TV surged 14 percent year over year, while Mac and wearable revenue were down.

In the coming months, Apple will bring promised AI-powered personalization features to Siri. Apple is partnering with Google to power this upgrade, which will use a custom version of Google’s Gemini AI model.

The company is also acquiring an AI startup, called Q.ai, for $2 billion, according to the Financial Times. Though there aren’t any details on how Apple plans to use the startup’s technology, the Financial Times reports that Q.ai’s patents “show its technology being used in headphones or glasses, using ‘facial skin micro movements’ to communicate without talking.”

Technology

Humanoid robot makes architectural history by designing a building

Published

8 hours ago

January 29, 2026

Press Room

Humanoid robot makes architectural history by designing a building

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What happens when artificial intelligence (AI) moves from painting portraits to designing homes? That question is no longer theoretical.

At the Utzon Center in Denmark, Ai-Da Robot, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist, has made history as the first humanoid robot to design a building.

The project, called Ai-Da: Space Pod, is a modular housing concept created for future bases on the Moon and Mars. CyberGuy has covered Ai-Da before, when her work focused on drawing, painting and performance art. That earlier coverage showed how a robot could create original artwork in real time and why it sparked global debate.

Now, the shift is clear. Ai-Da is moving beyond art and into physical spaces designed for humans and robots to live in.

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3D-PRINTED HOUSING PROJECT FOR STUDENT APARTMENTS TAKES SHAPE

Ai-Da Robot is the humanoid artist that made architectural history by becoming the first robot to design a building. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)

Inside the ‘I’m not a robot’ exhibition

The exhibition “I’m not a robot” has just opened at Utzon Center and runs through October. It explores the creative capacity of machines at a time when robots are increasingly able to think and create for themselves. Visitors can experience Ai-Da’s drawings, paintings and architectural concepts. Throughout the exhibition period, visitors can also follow Ai-Da’s creative process through sketches, paintings and a video interview.

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How Ai-Da creates art and architecture

Ai-Da is not a digital avatar or animation. She has camera eyes, specially developed AI algorithms and a robotic arm that allows her to draw and paint in real time. Developed in Oxford and built in Cornwall in 2019, Ai-Da works across disciplines. She is a painter, sculptor, poet, performer and now an architectural designer whose work is meant to provoke reflection.

“Ai-Da presents a concept for a shared residential area called Ai-Da: Space Pod, a foreshadowing of a future where AI becomes an integrated part of architecture,” explains Aidan Meller, creator of Ai-Da and Director of Ai-Da Robot. “With intelligent systems, a building will be able to sense and respond to its occupants, adjusting light, temperature and digital interfaces according to needs and moods.”

A building designed for humans and robots

The Space Pod is intentionally modular. Each unit can connect to others through corridors, creating a shared residential environment.

Through a series of paintings, she envisions a home and studio for humans or robots alike. According to the Ai-Da Robot team, these designs could evolve into fully realized architectural models through 3D renderings and construction. They could also adapt to planned Moon or Mars base camps.

Aidan Meller presents Ai-Da robot, the first AI-powered robot artist during the UN Global Summit on AI for Good, where they are giving the keynote speech, on July 7, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images for Aidan Meller)

While the concept targets future bases on the Moon and Mars, the design can also be built as a prototype on Earth. That detail matters as space agencies prepare for longer missions beyond our planet.

“With our first crewed Moon landing in 50 years coming in 2027, Ai-Da: Space Pod is a simple unit connected to other Pods via corridors,” Meller said. “Ai-Da is a humanoid designing homes. This raises questions about where architecture may go when powerful AI systems gain greater agency.” The timing also aligns with renewed lunar exploration tied to NASA missions.

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Why this exhibition is meant to challenge you

According to Meller, the exhibition is meant to feel uncomfortable at times. “Technology is developing at an extraordinary pace in these years,“ he said, pointing to emotional recognition through biometric data, CRISPR gene editing and brain computer interfaces. Each carries promise and ethical risk. He references Brave New World and warnings from Yuval Harari about how powerful technologies may be used.

In that context, Ai-Da becomes a mirror of our time. “Ai-Da is confrontational. The very fact that she exists is confrontational,” said Line Nørskov Davenport, Director of Exhibitions at Utzon Center. “She is an AI shaker, a conversation starter.”

Aidan Meller, British Gallery owner and specialist in modern and contemporary art, stands beside the AI robot artist “Ai-Da” at the Great Pyramids of Giza, where she exhibits her sculpture during an international art show, on the outskirt of Cairo, Egypt, Oct. 23, 2021. (REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

What this means for you

This story goes beyond robots and space travel. Ai-Da’s Space Pod shows how quickly AI is moving from a creative tool to a decision-maker. Architecture, housing and shared spaces shape daily life. When AI enters those fields, questions about control, ethics and accountability become unavoidable. If a robot can design homes for the Moon, it may soon influence how buildings function here on Earth.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

A humanoid robot designing a building once sounded impossible. Today, Ai-Da’s work sits inside a major cultural institution and sparks real debate. She offers no easy answers. Instead, she pushes us to think more critically about creativity, technology and responsibility. As the line between human and machine continues to blur, those questions matter more than ever.

If AI can design the homes of our future, how much creative control should humans be willing to give up? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Technology

Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With is joining Apple’s design team

Published

19 hours ago

January 29, 2026

Press Room

Halide co-founder Sebastiaan de With is joining Apple’s design team

I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of Lux and Halide. Today we launched the public preview of Halide Mark III, and the reception is more positive than we possibly could have hoped.

As we mentioned in the announcement post today, we’ve been working with legendary team at The Iconfactory on Mark III. We’re also super excited to be collaborating with the renowned colorist Cullen Kelly on the new looks in Mark III.

Ten years ago I started Halide, and for ten years, I lead product, ran the business, and coded almost everything. Except for the paywall. I hate working on payment screens. But I built everything else, and design was always a collaborative experience.

So in short, Halide is going nowhere. This has been my full time job since 2019, and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.