For example, after one week of setting up our own email server, we began receiving unauthorized mail relay requests. Apparently, spammers used an automated program to scan the Internet and locate our mail server. Before we installed MailShield, we discovered that spammers queued and relayed a dozen email messages per day through our server. By engaging in unauthorized relaying, spammers make it difficult and time-consuming to trace spam back to its true source. Adding to the difficulty of tracking spam, many companies are unaware that their servers have been used to relay spam until they receive an avalanche of complaints from angry customers who received spam from these companies.
Spammers also can damage a company s reputation by forging return email addresses.
Apparently, spammers actively targeted Juno s return address for forgery. Juno President, Charles Adai, noted that their company discovered spam software for sale on the Internet that included a forge e-mail to Juno feature. Spammers frequently forge return email addresses not only to prevent users from tracking the true source of spam, but also to prevent spam mail from bouncing back to their own servers. Since spam frequently contains a high number of inaccurate and outdated recipient addresses, spam mail often bounces and jams the servers spammers use to relay the mail. As a result, forged email return addresses can significantly drain hardware resources.