Another scam?

[anneed]

I had a message from 'Postmaster' general titled 'message status delivery (delay)' after emailing a friend. It showed the message I'd sent the previous day and had an attachment. When I googled this it seems this is some sort of scam to get hold of your contacts and send spam. I deleted it (and didn't touch the attachment) and resent the message but the same thing happened again. My friend's away so I don't know yet if the message ever arrived.

The Google info suggests I'll have to change my email address (not password). Have any of you come across this?

[david63]

I had a message from 'Postmaster' general titled 'message status delivery (delay)'

That message generally means what it says - there is a delay in sending the email for some reason.

When you send an email it will try to deliver it, if it cannot it will keep trying for up to about two days before it finally gives up and sens a message to say that it cannot be delivered. Some mail systems will periodically send a "delay" message to keep you informed of the situation.

and had an attachment

This is normal - it just has some information about the email.

When I googled this it seems this is some sort of scam to get hold of your contacts and send spam.

As far as I know that is not true.

Postmaster messages are quite normal and are all part of the way that email is handled.

[anneed]

Phew! That's a relief and so reassuring coming from you David. It would be such a pain changing my email, I'm sure I'd forget to notify some important contacts.
Anne

[Mervyn and Trish]

We've similar messages usually when

a) We've got the email address slightly wrong - it can be as simple as .com instead of .co.uk or vice versa
b) The recipient has changed their email and closed the old account
c) We've tried to send an attachment bigger than they can receive.

[Raybosailor]

I had the same trouble a few days ago but the email finally went to the recipient after three attempts.

Could be that the server the other end is down or receiving high volume traffic.

[Silver_Shiney]

Another cause is that the recipient's inbox is full and can't accept any more messages

[suespud]

Iv had the same while sending an email to a talktalk address, since tuesday.

[anneed]

Had another message to say the delivery had failed (as opposed to 'delay). As I mentioned my friend is away but I'll ask him to check he's receiving other emails normally when he gets back. Don't think it can be a mis-typed address because it was sent on an often-used email from my address folder.

What worried me was that this seemed different to the usual delivery failed message that appears when you've got an address wrong. That usually pings back in a matter of minutes but these messages are coming the following day. Still, if David says there's nothing to worry about then I'm sure there isn't. It's reassuring to hear that other people have had similar experiences with no nasty results.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Just to check, has everyone received the emails from me asking for their bank details so I can tranfer in a share of the hundred million Nigerian Naira I've won in the country's state lottery? Not had many replies yet.

[qbman1]

Are you Chimamandanata Itchifanni ?

If so, I've got it - bank details on the way

[Mervyn and Trish]

Are you Chimamandanata Itchifanni ?

If so, I've got it - bank details on the way

That's me. Merv is just a pseudonym.

[RB1961]

Itchifanni....

[Mervyn and Trish]

Itchifanni....

And your point is....

[Meg 50]

Iv had the same while sending an email to a talktalk address, since tuesday.

glad you mentioned that - had 2 talktalk bounce earlier this week - must go back and check if it's worth re-sending

[Keechy]

I've had a couple of emails recently from Gmail saying that there is an email waiting which contains a virus. It sits in my main .Karoo mailbox and Gmail doesn't collect it. I have to go to .Karoo mail and delete it (they don't give any warning.)

I'm quite pleased that emails are vetted in this way.