Summary
When your inbox is spoofed, a multi-faceted approach is essential. Begin with email authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to protect your domain and control unauthenticated emails. Monitor your sender reputation through tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS, and analyze DMARC reports for insights into the extent of the problem, potentially utilizing specialized reporting services. A sudden increase in bounce rates or blocklisting indicates potential issues. Educate employees to recognize and report phishing attempts. While mailbox providers often differentiate real traffic from spoofing, spoofing can still damage sender and brand reputation, affecting deliverability and customer trust. In some cases, if the spoofing is limited to using your domain in the 'From' address, the immediate impact may be minimal, but authentication is always important.
Key findings
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial for protecting your domain and controlling unauthenticated emails.
- Reputation Monitoring: Monitor sender reputation through Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS, and DMARC reports.
- Detection Signs: Look for sudden increases in bounce rates and check for blocklisting.
- Employee Education: Train employees to recognize and report phishing attempts.
- Reputation Damage: Spoofing can damage sender and brand reputation, affecting deliverability and customer trust.
- Severity Assessment: Assess the level and nature of spoofing to determine the appropriate response; some cases might have minimal initial impact.
Key considerations
- Mailbox Provider Sophistication: Mailbox providers can often differentiate real traffic from spoofing attacks.
- Reporting Services: Consider using specialized DMARC reporting services for better data analysis.
- Proactive Protection: Even with minimal initial impact, implementing strong email authentication is crucial.
- Authentication Complexity: Ensure correct configuration and monitoring of SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
If your inbox is spoofed, immediately implement email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify your domain ownership and instruct mail servers on how to handle unauthenticated emails. Monitor your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS for any drops that may indicate spoofing. Set up DMARC reporting to analyze the extent of the problem and consider using services like Dmarcian or Postmark to interpret these reports. Keep an eye on your bounce rate for sudden increases, which can signal spoofed emails are being sent to invalid addresses. Spoofing can damage your sender and brand reputation, potentially leading to emails landing in spam folders and customers losing trust. Check if your domain or IP addresses have been blocklisted using tools like MXToolbox or Spamhaus. Educate employees on recognizing and reporting phishing attempts to prevent internal compromise.
Key opinions
- Email Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify domain ownership and instruct mail servers.
- Reputation Monitoring: Monitor sender reputation using Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS for drops indicating spoofing.
- DMARC Reporting: Set up DMARC reporting to analyze the issue and consider using reporting services.
- Bounce Rate: Monitor bounce rate for sudden increases signaling spoofed emails to invalid addresses.
- Damage to Reputation: Spoofing can damage sender and brand reputation, leading to spam filtering and customer distrust.
- Blacklist Checks: Check if domain/IPs are blocklisted using MXToolbox or Spamhaus.
- Employee Training: Train employees to recognize/report phishing to prevent internal compromise.
Key considerations
- Sophistication of Mailbox Providers: Mailbox providers are often able to differentiate between legitimate mail and spoofing attacks.
- Domain Confirmation: Ensuring you have confirmed domain ownership will improve deliverability.
- Impact of DMARC: DMARC can significantly reduce the impact of spoofing on sender reputation by controlling unauthenticated emails.
- Brand Reputation Impact: Spoofing can erode customer trust and brand reputation if customers receive scam emails.
- DMARC Monitoring Tools: Consider using dedicated DMARC monitoring services for analysis.
Marketer view
Email marketer from EasyDMARC explains that you should check if your domain or IP addresses have been blocklisted as a result of the spoofing. Use tools like MXToolbox or Spamhaus to check your blocklist status.
15 Aug 2024 - EasyDMARC
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that mailbox providers are sophisticated enough to recognize spoofing attacks and differentiate them from real traffic. They advise to check how day to day email campaigns perform, for example if there is any impact.
28 May 2025 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Email spoofing can be addressed with proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup. While sometimes no action is immediately needed if the spoofing is just someone using your domain in the 'From' address, and it won't impact your deliverability or brand reputation, it is still important to implement authentication protocols and monitor for any impact. Detecting email spoofing involves inspecting headers, reading the text for inconsistencies, and being vigilant. Spoofing can potentially harm sender reputation and deliverability by enabling phishing and tricking customers.
Key opinions
- Authentication Protocols: Properly setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for protecting your domain from email spoofing.
- Impact Minimization: In some cases, spoofing may have minimal immediate impact on deliverability or brand reputation, and no immediate action other than standard monitoring may be needed.
- Detection Methods: Email spoofing can be detected by inspecting headers and looking for inconsistencies in the email content.
- Potential Dangers: Email spoofing can harm your sender reputation and deliverability and can enable phishing attempts.
Key considerations
- Level of Spoofing: Assess the level and nature of the spoofing to determine appropriate actions. Simple 'From' address spoofing might not require immediate intervention.
- Proactive Protection: Even with minimal immediate impact, implementing strong email authentication protocols is essential for ongoing protection.
- Vigilance: Be vigilant in monitoring email traffic and user reports to detect and address any potential spoofing activities.
- Customer Trust: Acknowledge that email spoofing can damage customer trust
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource explains that protecting your domain with authentication is important, and the best way to protect your domain from email spoofing is to ensure that you have properly setup SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
12 Jul 2024 - Spamresource
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource explains that email spoofing can be dangerous to your sender reputation, it allows phishers to gain trust, tricking your customers into giving out information, and it can impact your deliverability rate.
2 Jul 2021 - Spamresource
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) is recommended by Google and Microsoft to prevent spoofing, phishing, and spam. DMARC allows domain owners to instruct recipient mail servers on how to handle emails that fail authentication, including rejecting or quarantining them.
Key findings
- Email Authentication Importance: Google and Microsoft recommend email authentication to prevent spoofing.
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are key protocols for preventing spoofing.
- DMARC Control: DMARC allows domain owners to control how recipient mail servers handle unauthenticated emails.
- DMARC Actions: DMARC can instruct servers to reject or quarantine unauthenticated messages.
Key considerations
- Implementation: Proper implementation of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial for effective spoofing prevention.
- Configuration: Correctly configuring DMARC policies is necessary to ensure the desired handling of unauthenticated emails.
- Ongoing Monitoring: Monitor DMARC reports to identify and address any authentication issues.
Technical article
Documentation from Proofpoint explains that DMARC allows domain owners to instruct recipient mail servers on how to handle emails that fail authentication checks. This can include rejecting or quarantining such messages, preventing them from reaching the inbox.
7 Apr 2022 - Proofpoint
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that spoofing is when a spammer uses your email address as the 'From' address. They recommend using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prevent spoofing.
5 Jun 2024 - Microsoft Learn
Are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC as important in B2B as in B2C email marketing?
How can I prevent brand and sender profile impersonation in emails and what actions can I take?
How can I protect my domain from being spoofed and blacklisted?
How can I use DMARC to prevent spammers from using my domain?
How do DMARC, spam complaints, and IP reputation affect email deliverability and rejections?
How do I handle spoofing when DMARC reject is set but not enforced on inbound mail server?
