Why do I receive spam messages on my e-mail from people pretending to be a Facebook friend?

[MisunderstoodWorlock837]

1. Facebook allows most people to see friends lists.
2. It is easy to put a false From: address in email. Just as easy as writing a false return address on a mailed envelope.


If I were a hacker/spammer.. I make money by getting you to open email and buy stuff (or download a virus). So, I set up a program to gather a list of names linked to you.. and thousands of other possible targets.

Then, I set up my spam program to send email to (victim) with From = ( somebody in the list we collected of "victim"'s friends).

It doesn't only happen on Facebook.. but because they have so many people and so little security - they have become a favorite. It used to be hotmail, aol, and others. Next month it may be Google or Twitter.

Basically, the folks sending the email want you to open it.
It is a lot more likely that you are going to open email from folks you recognize.
It is easy to find lists of people you know ( like on Facebook), so they use them.