Many thanks to those who replied to my posting.  Turns out my computer is clean and the problem was that somehow my Comcast.net password was found out.  This allowed the abuser to use my account for his purposes making it look like I was sending the mail.  Since he was using my account as net mail, no traces would show up in my copy of Outlook on my computer.  Had this not involved friends and relatives, I'd never have spotted what was going on.  Changing the password after a second chat with a Comcast tech solved the problem.

You may benefit from my mistake.  According to the tech, the strength of my password (it was a good one with the advantage of being easily remembered) had nothing to do with this.  She said my password was probably stolen from some other site.  Alas, I did use this same password in many places though none requiring high security.

Lesson learned: use different passwords for all sites, thereby compartmentalizing any problems that might occur.  I know that could still have led to my recent problem, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about what else might be compromised.

Cheers,
Gordon

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