It was the work of Huafrid Bathena, a webmaster, who was just showing me how easy it is to spoof an email address. Imagine if someone had sent a few unkind words in my name to a colleague? "I could send a mail from you to someone you don't like, and create a fight," says Bathena. "That's how email is sometimes used in downright unfair office politics. Other ways include checking people's mail -- that is if you have access to the company's mail server. And how can you gain access? By befriending the system administrator!"

Across corporate India, email has become more than just a simple and effective communication tool. Employees are increasingly misusing it to score over their peers, spread gossip faster than at the water cooler, and win friends and make enemies.

Shveta Mehra, an accounts executive at ESPN Star Sports, says, "I had emailed a proposal to my colleague from the marketing department in Delhi. A few minutes later, he sent the same proposal (without even reformatting it) to everyone, claiming that he had prepared it."

Shveta didn't suffer, because her colleagues had seen her working on it.

But Delhi-based Shyam Somandh almost did. He faced a lot of embarrassment when the transcript of an instant messenger conversation with an ex-colleague was mailed to his entire department. It became the source of idle chatter for a few days and has made Shyam a wary Net user at work: "An ex-colleague, who had worked with us for only six months, began to chat about the company and malign the bosses. I laughed off all his comments. Then he went on to mention how his current company needed a bright and talented person like me. I enquired what he had in mind. The next morning, my boss called me and showed me the chat transcript that was mailed to everybody."

In some cases, the instant reach and anonymity of email encourages disgruntled employees to send company-wide flames to stir up trouble for employers or peers.

Nivedita Mittal, editor of a weekly in Pune, reveals: "After a rebuking about her deadlines, one of my staffers sent a stinging email maligning me and my working style, to all the other staffers. Since the mail was sent from an unknown ID, we called in the Cyber Cell."

When the identity of the sender was revealed, she fired the staffer. "Email allows the senders to take liberties which they would not face-to-face," she says.

Others may not be able to take action, as senders often cannot be traced.

But those who do get caught generally have nothing to say in their defence. The motive is usually petty rivalry. Vrushali B, a networking engineer in a telecom firm, has caught colleagues indulging in this: "We have a common account used by all engineers, which is not password protected. Some people use it to send unhealthy mails to our bosses, in another employee's name. It creates a lot of bad blood because all of us get into trouble."

Bosses, however, are wising up. Explains N Krishan, project manager at Mphasis, "People may use email to get brownie points, but most seniors can see through the ruse. I work very closely with my team. An email written at 4 in the morning is not going to impress me. I don't get impressed by time stamps or prejudiced because of BCCs."

Strangely enough, email's negative role has its advantages. Some employers insist that the competitiveness it creates among employees is a huge boon.

Adith Reddy, CEO of Hyderbad-based DeUS Technologies, which has 30 management and technology consultants, says, "In a small organization like ours, when people use email to vie with each other, it motivates people to work harder. That's the bottom line. Even when ideas discussed at the dining table by colleagues are mailed as a single person's idea, it's a lesson for the consultants not to share secrets."

On the lighter side, it strengthens the office grapevine. Says Arundhati Verma, HR personnel, "You get all the gossip not at the water cooler but at the printer where people forget to pick up printouts of their personal email. Applications for jobs, resumes… you will be surprised at what can be found because of email."

However, users are beginning to get careful. Explains journalist Shailesh Kuber, "I don't write anything that I would be ashamed of later. Even if I do, I just add my initials and send a BCC to a separate email ID so that I have the original letter with me. It's a powerful tool, and one that can be easily misused."

After all, email is like a postcard written in pencil, and the whole world may be watching.

Don't be a victim. Take preventive measures. Think twice about the message content before you send it. Send personal mail from a personal account. If you don't have one, create one with any of the web-based email services. Don't reply to an email when angry -- you may regret it later. Once the message has been sent, you will not be able to recover it. Don't conduct arguments over email. Don't "flame" people by sending abusive messages. Don't make personal remarks about third parties. Email can come back to haunt you. Don't send unsuitable email or attachments, especially those of a sexual nature, as they may well be seen by a third party. Keep copies of official emails you send and receive. Don't share your password with anyone. Don't cross the systems administrator. Befriend the person.