What Is Email Spoofing? How It Works and How to Protect Yourself

Email spoofing is when someone forges an email sender’s identity, making it look like an email came from someone you trust, such as your bank, a colleague, or 1-grid when it’s not.  

How Does Email Spoofing Work?

Spoofing typically involves manipulating email headers such as From, Reply-To, or Return-Path to disguise the actual sending source. 

Attackers may use compromised systems, open relays, or malicious scripts to send spoofed emails while hiding the original sender address. 

Spoofing vs. Phishing: What’s the Difference?

• At its core, spoofing is the act of forging the sender’s identity.
• In many cases, phishing uses deceptive emails (often spoofed) to trick you into revealing sensitive data such as passwords or bank details.

Phishing emails may involve spoofing; however, not all spoofed emails are phishing, as some may just mimic identity without a direct scam. 

At 1-grid, our official emails will only come from “@1-grid.com“, so ensure you look out for this when interacting with us.

How Are Spoofed Emails Caught or Blocked?

Receiving servers and email providers rely on authentication protocols and filters to help flag or block spoofed emails.

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) checks if the sending server is allowed for the domain. 
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) validates cryptographic signatures on outgoing messages. 
• DMARC lets domain owners instruct how recipients handle failed SPF/DKIM checks. 

Some spoofed emails may bypass protection, such as in cases like forwarding or advanced attacks. 

How You Can Check If an Email Might Be Spoofed 

• First, view the full email headers, where you can check details like the Received lines and Return-Path.
• You can then compare the “From” domain with what’s authenticated by SPF or DKIM.
• Then, hover over links to confirm they point to the correct and trusted domain.
• Finally, be cautious if the email contains urgent requests, unfamiliar links, or mismatched details, as these are red flags for spoofing.

How to Protect Your Domain Against Spoofing 

• Publish correct SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records. 
• Use strong SSL/TLS on your mail servers. 
• Monitor your DMARC reports to detect unauthorised senders. 
• Educate your users to spot suspicious email traits.
• Install a good Antivirus Software. 
• Remove outdated or conflicting DNS records. 

What to Do If You Receive a Suspicious or Spoofed Email 

• Don’t click any links or download attachments. 
• Forward the email to 1-grid Support for analysis. 
• Block the sender or mark as spam. 
• If it appears from a trusted contact, verify via alternative means (call, SMS). 

Best Practices and Ongoing Maintenance 

• First, rotate DKIM keys periodically to keep your email authentication secure.
• Next, tighten SPF so that it includes only the necessary sending servers.
• In addition, make sure to update and clean DNS records periodically to remove outdated or unused entries.
• Equally important, educate your team and end-users on spotting spoofing attempts to strengthen your human firewall. 
• Finally, use monitoring tools or set up alerts on DMARC reports so you can act quickly on suspicious activity. 

FAQs

What exactly is email spoofing?

Email spoofing is when someone forges the “From” address in an email to make it look like it came from a trusted sender, even though it didn’t.

How can I tell if an email is spoofed?

Some signs to watch out for include mismatched sender names and addresses. Also, be careful of urgent or suspicious requests, unexpected attachments, and especially links that don’t match the sender’s domain.

What else can I check?

Then, you can also check the full email header for authentication results (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).

Is email spoofing the same as phishing?

Not exactly, as spoofing is about forging the sender’s identity, while phishing often uses spoofed emails to trick you into revealing sensitive information like passwords or credit card details.

Can spoofed emails harm me if I just open them?

Usually not. The real danger comes from clicking links, downloading attachments, or replying with sensitive information, so it is important that you always be cautious.

What should I do if I get a spoofed email that looks like it’s from 1-grid?

You must not click on any links or attachments, and you should mark the email as spam, then forward it to our Support Team for analysis.

How does 1-grid protect my domain from spoofing?

Our systems apply filters to block known spoofing attempts.

What can I do?

We encourage you, as our customer, to use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to validate your domain and protect against unauthorised use,

Can I stop spoofers from using my domain completely?

Unfortunately, this is not guaranteed, especially since spoofers can try to forge any domain.

What should you do?

By publishing correct SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, you can ensure recipient mail servers reject or quarantine fraudulent messages.

Why am I getting bounce-backs from emails I never sent?

This is called “backscatter,” often caused by spoofers using your email address as the forged sender, so it is important to keep this in mind.

What is essential to reduce risks?

This is why implementing DMARC and proper DNS records is essential to reduce spoofing risks.

Does email spoofing only affect businesses?

Importantly, attackers can target anyone with an email address. However, they often target businesses more because spoofing a business domain is more profitable.

Additional Resources 

How Do I Prevent Email Spoofing Attacks?  
How to Spot a Scam Email  
Email Headers FAQs 
How to Enable DKIM and SPF on Your Mail Domain  
Why SSL? The Purpose of Using SSL Certificates  
Settings to Configure Your 1-grid Email Accounts Across Devices  
What is a Domain Name Server (DNS)?  
MailChannels FAQs 
SpamTitan FAQs 

Need Additional Support? 

We’re Here to Help: 

Protecting your emails and domain against spoofing doesn’t have to cause you to worry with this easy-to-reference guide. Stuck? Contact our Support Team for guidance (https://1grid.co.za/contact-us/). We’re ready to see how we can help!