How to fake e-mail

Alright,
this is really a lame ass topic actually, and this information has possibly
been available since UNIX was first developed, but anyhow, it's a lot
of fun especially when dealing with people that don't really know much
about the Internet and networks. Definitely a good prank! :)

When
you're TV's broke, and you've got nothing else to do on a Sunday, faking
e-mail is a good way to pass time. Apart from just freaking out newbies
and people who don't know their keyboards from their mouse, it gives you
a way to learn more about SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

As
I mentioned in my last article (Network Ports), the SMTP daemon runs on
port 25, and is responsible for the routing the delivery of e-mail (outgoing
that is). Here's what you need to get started faking e-mail.

1.)
E-mail address of the victim

2.)
A remote server to connect to (this can be any system on the net, just
pick one and give it a try)

4.)
A message (what you want the message to say)

5.)
A little time, and imagination.

Okie,
now that you've got everything you need... start by telnetting to the
remote server you wish to use to route the e-mail to your victim. On UNIX
just fireup a shell and type telnet host.com 25. Once a connection is
established you should see something similar to "220 host.com SMTP
Linux 2.x, Fri 1 Jan 2000 21:38" or a derivative of such and you're
in!

To
start, you need to type in HELO . This isn't always the case on all servers, however it certainly
saves you the hassle of having to type it in if the server complains that
you didn't type in the HELO command first.

Once
you get that out of the way type in MAIL FROM: followed by the e-mail
address you want the e-mail to appear it's coming from. As an example
you could type in MAIL FROM:billgatesmom@microsoft.com (I trust you'll
be able to think up of something interesting for the MAIL FROM: line.) Don't forget to leave a space between MAIL and FROM but not a space between
the : and the e-mail address. The server will give you some crap error
message if the line isn't typed properly.

Next
type in the address of the person you wish this mail to be delivered to.
Just type in RCPT TO: followed by the e-mail address of the victim. I
would suggest testing this on yourself first to see if it works. If the
address is valid, the server should say something like "Recipient
valid" or something along those lines.

You're
ready to spoof some mail! Type DATA on a single line and hit the enter
key. Start typing away... just remember to hit enter after each line.
When you're done with your message, type a period (.) on a single line
and hit enter again. Your message is on the way to being delivered.

To
get out of the SMTP prog, just type QUIT. If you sent the mail to yourself,
check your mailbox in about 10 minutes - your fake mail should be there.

Some
versions of SMTP allow you to verify users (to see if the user exists
on that host.) Just type VRFY jane@usuck.com followed by a username. An
example of this would be :

VRFY
jane 250

If
jane did NOT exist on the system, the server would have replied with something

like
VRFY jane 250 jane... User unknown. This is a good way of checking to
see if that username exists on the server. What for? Well if you're feeling
lucky, check for usernames like "guest" "user" "user1"
"test". There's a high chance that usernames such as these would
use the username as the password. You can then proceed to telnet to the
host itself, enter the username, and use the username as the password
as well. If you're extremely lucky, you'll get dumped to a system prompt.
That's it! You're in... grab the /etc/passwd file, get your self a password
cracker and go for root. Although the likelihood of finding a server where
the username and password are the same is very rare, it's worth a try
before moving on to other methods of getting in.

That's
it... peace.

1.)
My stoopid ass mind (part 1 - Beer, cigarettes & friends)
- Kikkoman

2.)
Network ports -
L33tdawg

3.)
My stoopid ass mind (part 2 - Work,
handphones & people) - Kikkoman

4.)
Black book of AFS -
nicnoc

5.)
How to fake e-mail -
L33tdawg

6.)
Hi! I'm dead and I'm an alien -
deadalien