How does this scam work?

[So]

I am getting loads of email in my spam folder apparently from people I know well and am
In regular contact with. Some of these people are fairly recent acquaintances.

The mail has come in on first [e-mail] which is a mail address I stopped using after MySpace times.

So I get the bit about the mail address. It’s been harvested from an insecure and now defunct server. But where are they getting the “from” presentation names from?

[The_Jackal]

Your or your friend's contact lists.
All it takes is one friend to allow themselves to be compromised and all you emails addresses are out there to be spoofed.