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Why do I get multiple email messages with the subject "Returned mail: User unknown" (or similar error)?
Multiple Email Messages with The Subject "Returned Mail: User Unknown" A virus and/or worm may have infected the computer. It is also possible that an email virus and/or worm may have infected one or more of the user's friends' computers, and the friend probably has the user's email address in his or her address book. What the Virus Does The virus tries to spread itself by sending messages to many other users, using the address book of the infected computer. The virus will also use a false address (possibly yours) as the "Reply-to:" or "From:" address. If any of the messages that the virus sends do not go through and bounce back to the email account, it will receive a message from the email administrator saying the message could not be sent. What to Look For The subject of these bounced messages is often something similar to: Returned mail: User unknown; Returned mail: see transcript for details; Returned mail: delivery problems encountered; Mail Delivery Problem; Delivery Status Notification. The body of the message may be similar to the following: ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- < username@emailaddress.com > (reason: 550 5.1.1 < username@emailaddress.com >... User unknown) In the above example, username@emailaddress.com was an address that is no longer in use, so the system at emailaddress.com sent a message explaining that the email was not received. Because the virus may have used the customer's address in the "From:" field, the customer received the error message. For more information on viruses please click on one of the following links: |
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