[SOLVED] What's all this in an incoming email?

[Inojim]

I'm wondering if there's someone on the group, with a good knowledge of how HTML email messages are formatted, who could go through the header and body of a typical unsolicited advertising message and briefly describe what various components are and what they mean? In particular, I get a slew of mail from one source that I don't trust as being 'friendly,' and would love to know what their agenda is, whether it's a phishing mail, contains script, or maybe links to something really nasty, etc. When I look at the message I see a lot of seemingly-meaningless text.

The link below goes to a Dropbox .txt file of a mail piece received this morning. I have only X'd-out my own email address in the one spot it appears. Any info would be welcome, but adding comments and re-posting the file or PMing it back would be ideal. Many thanks.

Message Header & Text

 

[Ralston18]

It would probably make more sense if the email were viewed via browser.

Overall, full disclosure, I am not an HTML expert.

However, the .txt you posted is a mix of administrative/control codes, formatting codes, and the original message(s) itself. All the more so if there are replies, links, photographs, etc. included in the email.

Along with a few other odds and ends that I truly do not recognize. Even the simplest of emails can have a lengthy ".txt" presentation.

Some things you can glean from the labeling and context. Others are simply "machine" and not intended to be human readable per se.

And, if there is some malicious intent involved, those aspects may be disguised in some manner.

Block the source that you do not trust as friendly. Even doing so does not mean that emails from that source will end. Junk emails use rotating and meaningless emails addresses that change with every email. Global blocks do not even work.

Any such emails should simply be sent directly to trash with no further review or consideration.

Consider white-listing your current contact/email list so all other emails are then sent to trash. Just remember to scan the trash email to ensure that some applicable or appropriate email did not get "trashed".

Add that email address to your contacts list.

The overall agenda of phishing emails is to part you from your money - one way or another. Following that, I think, would just be a malicious attempt to corrupt your system and data. Perhaps take control of your system to further both purposes.

Do not open such emails and remember "Delete" is your friend.

Just my thoughts on the matter to "break the ice". Hopefully others will comment.

 

[Inojim]

It would probably make more sense if the email...

...remember "Delete" is your friend.

Just my thoughts on the matter to "break the ice". Hopefully others will comment.

Many thanks, Ralston, good to know that there's probably nothing glaringly evil in there, just a very in-your-face sender whom I have managed to block from my normal Inbox with tools in my email client... as old and feeble as Windows Live Mail is .