Which term describes the unauthorized change of the apparent source of an email message?

• A. Email spoofing
• B. Email phishing
• C. Spam
• D. Email encryption

Answer: (A)

This describes disguising the true origin of a message by forging the email’s header information so it appears to come from a different sender. That act—making the apparent source look unauthorized or misleading—is what email spoofing is all about. It’s often used to trick recipients into trusting the message, sometimes as part of phishing campaigns, but the key idea here is the fake source being presented.

The other terms don’t fit as precisely: phishing is the broader trick to get people to reveal information or take an action, which may use spoofed messages but isn’t itself the act of changing the apparent sender. Spam refers to unsolicited bulk email, not specifically the deception of its source. Email encryption protects the content of messages and their integrity, but it doesn’t involve altering who the message appears to originate from.