In macOS Tahoe, Apple Mail is associating the name of spoof email senders with my email address

Since upgrading to macOS Tahoe 26 on my MacBook Pro, when I receive spoofed emails (emails pretending to be from me in my inbox) Apple Mail is permanently associating the name of the spoofer with my email address.


Here is what I mean:

  • Let's say my email address is User@Apple.com.
  • I receive an email from a User@Apple.com because a spammer is spoofing my email address, and the spammer is pretending to be "American Express".
  • Once I receive that email, Apple Mail changes the name associated with User@Apple.com from my name, to "American Express". Here is a screenshot showing User@Apple.com with (American Express) now being the name associated with my email address.
  • If I then attempt to email TO User@Apple.com, the name which shows up in the TO field is "American Express" not my name.
  • In the Previous Recipients list, Apple Mail now associates User@Apple.com with "American Express". So if I were to write an email TO User@Apple.com the name I'd see in that email is "American Express".


Receiving spoofed emails is a daily occurrence, so I have to deal with this multiple times per day. It's bizarre that simply receiving an email is enough for Apple Mail to override my name being associated with my email, especially because I simply delete the spoofed emails--I'm not responding to them or making them a contact or taking any action which Apple Mail should interpret as me legitimizing the email I received.


Spoofing has always been a thing, but it wasn't until macOS Tahoe that Apple Mail started to overwrite the name associated with my own email with the name of the spoof email sender.


Presently, to clear this association I have to remove the email address from Previous Recipients and make Apple Mail forget the association. Is there a simpler way to fix this daily problem, or better yet, keep it from happening in the first place?

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.1

Posted on Nov 25, 2025 3:30 PM

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In macOS Tahoe, Apple Mail is associating the name of spoof email senders with my email address

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