Can scam (phishing) emails delete themselves off your computer?

I don't know what server you are on, but AOL has settings that control how long your e-mail are kept and where they go.  If the settings are only for a few days, it could delete them or move them to your file cabinet.  Have you checked your old mail and your file cabinet to see if it's there?

This would really depend on the settings that are in place for your mail server and client.  If you are using a mail client like Microsoft Outlook, it is very unlikely that the messages would simply deleted themselves once downloaded locally.  If you are certain that they are spam, however, there is a chance that they may have been removed if you ran some sort of program that checks for viruses, trojans, etc.

There is a chance that a program like this may have flagged the downloaded messages and removed them.

Darius Cubbage / Technical Support Analyst / Hosting.com

I don't think so. Are you sure no one else was using the computer while you were gone?

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