I can’t stop ads for Viagra. Some look like they are actually sent “from” me.
I’m with you on this one. Spam drives me absolutely bonkers. My inbox used to be loaded with hundreds of “male enhancement,” “online pharmacy,” and “herbal remedies” messages each day! I finally have spam under control thanks to protecting my e-mail addresses (for example, don’t post your e-mail address online such as on Web sites and forums) and using anti-spam products on my computer. In your case, since you’re seeing advertisements for Viagra and your e-mail program appears to be sending out emails “from” you, I suspect that it’s not so much that you’re on a spammer’s list, but rather your computer appears to have a malicious program on it.
Computer Viruses
Computer viruses can send messages that appear to be from you. Computer viruses often take over your e-mail’s outgoing e-mail mechanism and send messages to the people in your contact list. When your friends receive the e-mail, it looks like it’s from you, complete with your name in the “from” line. The message may contain an attachment or a link. When your friends open the attachments or click the links, their computers become infected with the virus and the virus then hijacks their e-mail lists. From there, the virus sends itself to all of your friends’ contacts and spreads like crazy.
Botnets
Botnets are networks of personal computers that have been taken over by a hacker. The hacker then uses these computers as needed for whatever purpose is on the hacker’s agenda. For example, if the hacker happens to also be a spammer, he can command the infected computers to send out spam messages. These messages may have your name in the From field; it just depends on the botnet’s programming and mission.
Trojans
Another possibility is that a Trojan is on your system. Trojans usually arrive as part of another downloaded program, such as a screensaver. It sneaks on with the program, much like the soldiers arrived in the famous Trojan horse. Trojans can carry out all types of destructive deeds including generating unwanted advertisements.
Whether a virus, botnet, Trojan, or any other type of malware is to blame, the solution is the same: you need a good computer security product to get rid of this pest. Your computer may have a combination of infections, too. If you currently have a computer security product such as Norton, McAfee, or Trend Micro installed, update its antivirus definitions and run a complete system scan. Because some threats are not traditional found with antivirus programs, you’ll need an antispyware tool, too. If you have Windows XP or Vista, run the Windows Defender too (after updating it) to remove spyware threats.
Recommended Computer Security Products
For more suggestions, read our antivirus 2009 reviews.
Once you’ve rid your system of this nasty malware infection, let everyone in your contact list know that emails may have been sent by a virus on your system. This way, your friends can check their systems too.
Celeste Stewart | June 16th, 2009
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