--- title: "Stop Email Spoofing: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in Plain English | StartCloud" description: "Module 4 of our free Microsoft 365 Security Essentials pathway: how scammers send email as your domain, what SPF, DKIM, and DMARC each do, and how to set all three up." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": [ "LocalBusiness", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://startcloud.au/#business", "name": "StartCloud", "legalName": "Start Technologies Pty Ltd", "alternateName": "StartCloud Australia", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "ABN", "value": "17 676 121 449" }, "slogan": "Go Beyond", "description": "StartCloud is Perth's cybersecurity-first AI MSP: managed IT, Essential Eight security, Microsoft 365 and cloud, networking, and practical AI for Australian businesses with 5 to 50 staff.", "url": "https://startcloud.au", "logo": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "image": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "telephone": 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"https://www.google.com/maps/place/StartCloud/@-31.8648767,115.8069889,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x2a32a5b5d9e864b5:0x9f02690968f0e50c!8m2!3d-31.8648813!4d115.8095638!16s%2Fg%2F11vzbgtytj" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "LearningResource", "name": "Stop Email Spoofing: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in Plain English", "description": "Module 4 of the Microsoft 365 Security Essentials pathway: how email spoofing powers invoice fraud, what SPF, DKIM, and DMARC each do, and the exact steps to set all three up for Microsoft 365.", "educationalLevel": "Beginner", "learningResourceType": "Module", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Course", "name": "Microsoft 365 Security Essentials", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn", "provider": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" } }, "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" }, "datePublished": "2026-07-23", "dateModified": "2026-07-23", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn/stop-email-spoofing-spf-dkim-dmarc" } ] --- [![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth")](/ "StartCloud | Managed IT Services Perth") - Cybersecurity - AI Solutions - Cloud - Technology - Networking - Explore [Contact Us](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") Open menu Module 4 of StartCloud's Microsoft 365 Security Essentials learning pathway, in six short units with a knowledge check: how email spoofing powers invoice fraud, what SPF, DKIM, and DMARC each do in plain English, and the exact steps to set all three up for Microsoft 365. Course contents [Pathway overview](/learn/microsoft-365-security-essentials) Pathway Microsoft 365 Security Essentials 0 of 6 units done in this module 1. [Turn on MFA ](/learn/microsoft-365-multi-factor-authentication) 2. [Protect admin accounts ](/learn/protect-admin-accounts-microsoft-365) 3. [Preset security policies ](/learn/microsoft-365-preset-security-policies) 4. Stop email spoofing 1. The scam: email that looks exactly like you 2 min 2. SPF: the guest list 2 min 3. DKIM: the tamper-proof seal 2 min 4. DMARC: the bouncer with instructions 2 min 5. Set up all three for Microsoft 365 3 min 6. Knowledge check 2 min 5. [Sharing controls ](/learn/sharepoint-onedrive-sharing-controls) 6. [Conditional Access, properly ](/learn/conditional-access-done-properly) 7. [Data protection with Purview ](/learn/data-protection-microsoft-purview) 8. [Backups and retention ](/learn/microsoft-365-backups-and-retention) 9. [Starters and leavers ](/learn/microsoft-365-starters-and-leavers) 10. [Devices with Intune ](/learn/managing-devices-with-intune) # Stop Email Spoofing: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in Plain English Module 4 · Everyday Unit 1 of 6 · about 2 min ## The scam: email that looks exactly like you Here is how the classic invoice scam plays out. Your bookkeeper gets an email from you, or so it appears. Same display name, same email address, even your usual sign-off. It says a supplier has changed banks and the attached invoice should be paid to the new account. The money goes out on Friday. By the time anyone rings the real supplier, it is sitting in an account that no longer exists. The uncomfortable part is how easy the impersonation is. Email was designed in a friendlier era, and by default nothing stops a scammer typing your domain into the From field of a message. It costs them nothing and it works often enough that this style of attack, known as business email compromise (or BEC), is one of the most expensive crimes going. Microsoft lists spoofed senders as a key ingredient in BEC, ransomware, and phishing campaigns. The fix is three small DNS records with awkward names: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Together they let the receiving mail server check whether a message claiming to be from your domain actually is, and tell it what to do when the answer is no. None of them cost anything. All three are things you set up once and mostly leave alone. This is not just about scammers There is a selfish reason to do this too. The big mail providers increasingly treat email from domains without these records as suspect, so your own quotes and invoices are more likely to land in spam. Set the three records up and you protect your customers from fake you, and your real mail from the junk folder. Two birds, three DNS records. Mark done and continue ![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth") Cybersecurity-led IT for Australian businesses. 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