I just received an email from a person I do not recognise (although my
memory is seriously dodgy).

I decided to analyse it, and looked at the message source using Windows
Live Mail.

The User Agent is listed as OWM Mail 3 which I understand is an Android
mail agent for Outlook.

There is no recipient address in the message header and body as displayed.

Now it is a long time since I used to do this, but I think that you can
send an email [RCPT TO:] without including the email address in the
message body.
There must have been an address in the envelope or the email wouldn't have been delivered.

It looks like a Phishing attempt because the message does not name me and
the originator claims not to be able to phone me because of laryngitis(!).
So they don't have a mobile number to text to, presumably.

All well dodgy.

It just intrigued me that an email can still be sent (allegedly from a
mail agent) without including the recipient in the body.

Has anyone else come across this?

TIA



Dave R

--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 04/04/2026 18:33, David wrote:

It looks like a Phishing attempt because the message does not name me and
the originator claims not to be able to phone me because of laryngitis(!).
So they don't have a mobile number to text to, presumably.

All well dodgy.

It just intrigued me that an email can still be sent (allegedly from a
mail agent) without including the recipient in the body.

Has anyone else come across this?

Yes, a couple of times. They named acquaintances though as sender - but
it's a bit suspicious when someone you last saw 15+ years ago suddenly
wants to communicate, but just happens to have lost their voice.

--
Mike Scott
Harlow, England

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

I have no particular comment on the validity of the EMail the OP has
received.

On 04/04/2026 18:33, David wrote:

Now it is a long time since I used to do this, but I think that you can
send an email [RCPT TO:] without including the email address in the
message body.

Yes, that's quite possible. Bulk EMailers often do this.

I can do the same from, say, Thunderbird be sending an EMail with no
"To" or "Cc" but with a valid "Bcc" address. Other mailers may be more
or less versatile.

There must have been an address in the envelope or the email wouldn't have been delivered.

True.

--
Cheers,
Daniel.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-04-04, David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

It just intrigued me that an email can still be sent (allegedly from a
mail agent) without including the recipient in the body.

Absolutely no problem. The email address in the body can be any address.
The Email

the email RFC's are remarkably lax. But the spam detectors ramp the spam score when stuff like this happens.

If you want to test it yourself, send yourself an email, by putting your address in the Bcc field (often hidden in the user interface of whatever
mail program you are using), and if your mail program will let you, leave
the To: field blank. You'll get a copy without any reference to your
email address in the "normal" email headers. If you look at the "raw"
email text headers, there may be a Delivered-To: line or similar
depending on what transfer agent the mail has been through.




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)