No, you’re not going crazy. You didn’t get up in the middle of the night and send an email to yourself.  Spammers are just getting smarter. They have found your email address and have used it in the “from” and “to” fields to get your attention.  Worked, didn’t it!  The best thing you can do now is to delete it completely (right click and select delete).  Don’t let your email program download images in spam emails if you can help it – this will confirm to the spammer that your email address is real.  And definitely don’t click on any links. 

So how did they get your email address in the first place?  They may have guessed it through random combinations (known as a “dictionary attack”), or they may have harvested it from the net.  Have you ever posted your email address online?  Beware! Any email address displayed on the web is like a lone beer at a BBQ.  You’ll be a magnet for spam hunting robots.  You can install anti-spam software, but while defences are getting smarter all the time, there are still inherent disadvantages.  You may lose legitimate email if your filters are too strict, or you may still get spam if they are too lenient. Once you are on a spam list, the only real solution is to change your email address.  One good idea is to have an email account that you use for online situations, perhaps one that you can change easily that isn’t printed on your business cards or stationery.  You can also disguise your email address when online, by displaying it as web at Datasearch dot com dot au, or you could choose less guessable email addresses (don’t use info or admin!)

But aren’t there laws to protect us from spam?  In Australia, yes, but most spam doesn’t come from here.  Spam can come from compromised computers or servers anywhere in the world.  

So by not posting your email address online, using less guessable email addresses and not clicking on links in spam emails you should be able to reduce your spam collection (and never doubt your sanity again).