Okay, so my email was definitely compromised. Should I be scared?

[MasterChief3624]

I woke up today with the terrifying revelation that my email had been compromised. I think it was my fault because I changed back to a password I know had been compromised a couple years back, but I thought by now it would be safe to use again... Apparently that is not the case

So my inbox was full of emails sent from me to myself, all with Russian titles and bizarre links. I deleted all of those. I checked my outbox and it was similarly littered with sent emails from my account, also all with Russian titles. Thankfully it seems the emails didn't send to any of my friends... or maybe that's the scariest part.

See, I checked all the addresses of the outgoing messages, and they were all going to places that I have never heard of. None of my friends were sent these emails as far as I could tell, thank goodness... but is it scarier to think my emails were being sent to unknown places?

Obviously I changed my passwords immediately on all my websites including this one. But should I be worried about this infiltration? My email account definitely had some sensitive information, correspondence between my mother and me, etc. so should I be worried about that information being stolen?

I've never had my email compromised before, so I'm kind of freaking out a bit. Anything I should continue to monitor? Is there any reason to be scared for my life?

[sk33tr]

hopefully you didn't open of the nefarious emails (pretty sure you didn't, though).

i know if you use gmail you can tell it to filter out messages from certain senders but i don't know if you can do that with other email services.

and just make sure you don't use the bad password again in the future.

if you keep getting emails from those places, i'd try reporting them (if that's possible) through your email service.

good luck.

[MasterChief3624]

Originally Posted by sk33tr

hopefully you didn't open of the nefarious emails (pretty sure you didn't, though).

i know if you use gmail you can tell it to filter out messages from certain senders but i don't know if you can do that with other email services.

and just make sure you don't use the bad password again in the future.

if you keep getting emails from those places, i'd try reporting them (if that's possible) through your email service.

good luck.

I didn't open any of them, though I was wondering: is it dangerous to open the email? Like, even if I don't click the links inside them or accept images, just opening it would be dangerous?

I definitely won't use it again! Learned my lesson, assuming that is the case with this one.

Hm... well I kind of deleted all of the messages, but as far as I could tell, they were all from different senders... aside from the messages originating from my address, in which case I don't think it would be wise to block myself

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by MasterChief3624

I didn't open any of them, though I was wondering: is it dangerous to open the email? Like, even if I don't click the links inside them or accept images, just opening it would be dangerous?

I definitely won't use it again! Learned my lesson, assuming that is the case with this one.

Hm... well I kind of deleted all of the messages, but as far as I could tell, they were all from different senders... aside from the messages originating from my address, in which case I don't think it would be wise to block myself

I don't know what that means, because you either did or you didn't. Hopefully you did as it's unsafe to open up an email that is suspect. I might also suggest you run a full scan on your PC, and also notify (if you can) the email provider to say your account has been compromised. If you can't, and are still concerned, check the various knowledgebase articles to see if others have had the same problem.

This happened to me a few years ago with Hotmail and it was a pain in the ass to get resolved, but resolve it I did. Wish I could remember the details and the steps I took.

[MasterChief3624]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

I don't know what that means, because you either did or you didn't. Hopefully you did as it's unsafe to open up an email that is suspect. I might also suggest you run a full scan on your PC, and also notify (if you can) the email provider to say your account has been compromised. If you can't, and are still concerned, check the various knowledgebase articles to see if others have had the same problem.

This happened to me a few years ago with Hotmail and it was a pain in the ass to get resolved, but resolve it I did. Wish I could remember the details and the steps I took.

I meant "kind of" as in, "Whoops, did it already." I deleted them for sure. The wording was strange, sorry :P

Is there a reputable virus scan for a Mac? I'm under no illusion that Macs are invulnerable to viruses, but I also have no idea where to find an anti-virus program for one, either

[sk33tr]

Originally Posted by MasterChief3624

I meant "kind of" as in, "Whoops, did it already." I deleted them for sure. The wording was strange, sorry :P

Is there a reputable virus scan for a Mac? I'm under no illusion that Macs are invulnerable to viruses, but I also have no idea where to find an anti-virus program for one, either

kaspersky makes software for macs. clicky, clicky

you can download it straight from their site, purchase a disc-based version from them or get it at best buy.

[MrHT]

That happened to me and a bunch of my friends on our AOL accounts. So, we vow to never use AOL again. I closed my AOL account a couple of years ago and switched to Gmail and it never happened again.

[wormraper]

dont' worry, just change your password and run some adware sweeps on your computer to make sure there's no key logger. happens to most people's accounts at one time or another

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by wormraper

dont' worry, just change your password and run some adware sweeps on your computer to make sure there's no key logger. happens to most people's accounts at one time or another

Yep. I had about 6 months ago my email account send out emails to everyone on my list from like Ukraine or something (yahoo is kinda cool even though they suck on customer service in that you can see what location the email account is being opened from, so for example everything was like DC,DC,DC,DC, Ukraine, DC ) lol so I changed passwords and haven't had a problem since.

[RandyK]

I've been getting emails from myself about fat loss or something like that on my Yahoo account so I just changed my password. I didn't see any sent emails in my sent email folder.

[nefilim]

there is so many ways to setup additional email i suggest you make one.

use one w/ your name only to very important mails like bank. visa. etc.

otherwise you can use additional in not so important places like br.com

so if something happens just delete the account and make new one.

easy.

and secure.

[videohead]

I would make the tin foil hat ASAP! Do not forget to include the chinstrap so that it will stay on as you are traveling through the Matrix.

[Villiam Hayes]

They're coming to get you,run now...now I tell you,while you still can.

[Fortion]

Originally Posted by Villiam Hayes

They're coming to get you,run now...now I tell you,while you still can.

hahahah.... no man no need to worry