Odd spam from a named contact but incorrect email address

Question

This morning, I received an email. This is a screen shot.

I keep getting emails like this.

The original forwarded email is from a real friend. The From and To are accurate email addresses. However, that email has never sent and never received.

The first email in the thread comes from the real name (highlighted in yellow) but has a totally bogus address.

What I'm trying to work out is if this shows a security issue some where in my control.

I asked a few friends if they get emails like this, they said yes. I'm hoping as such, this is a known issue with hopefully a known solution.

Answer 1

The original forwarded email is from a real friend. The From and To are accurate email addresses. However, that email has never sent and never received.

Yep, it doesn't need to be a real e-mail, everybody can edit those couple of lines of text.

The first email in the thread comes from the real name (highlighted in yellow) but has a totally bogus address.

The spammer probably knows the address of both of you, and also that you're in contact. A bit more information than generally in spam e-mails, but not impossible to get it.

What I'm trying to work out is if this shows a security issue some where in my control.

Most probably there is nothing you can do besides blocking all addresses used to send you spam.