themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Here goes, I am absolutley useless when it comes to computers but a very annoying and slightly worrying problem has occured. Basically its via hotmail. I really dont know how its happened but spam mail is being sent from my email address on hotmail and it sending all sorts of strange emails to every email address that I have on my address book on hotmail. How has this happened ( must mean something/someone has access to my private email, or could it be some sort of virus) Also how can I put a stop to this happening? Big apologies must go out to Chris Wilson (who has made me aware of this) as he has been one of the victims of this spam mail virus!!? And he and everyone else is receiving a number of emails daily. Any help on this would be gratefully recieved, I need to sort this asap Thanks everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Unfortunately it's most likely nothing to do with your PC, it's probably your email address that is being spoofed (very easy to do). One quick thing to do would be to change your password in hotmail to rule that one out. Also check the security question is something hard for others to guess and hasn't been changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yep - easy fix, as Scott said, just change your password. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Doubt its a spoofed address as they are sending to his contacts list. So somebody has his password, which can be easily fixed by changing it. Also check your sent items and the recycle bin as they usually delete all your sent items for you at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Cheers guys, I have just changed my password but the thing is my emails dont appear to have been read as they are still marked as unread. When I looked at one of the emails being sent it looks like a link has just been attached but this link goes straight to a canadian pharmacy and goes straight to the viagra page!!! Could it been a virus that has been sent to my email address which then once opened it corrupts my account and sends numerous emails to all that are in my address book. Just trying to get my head around it really!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 You havent opened any e-mail attachments? I have a friend who keeps on sending me strange emails, sort of work related yet the fellow is well into his 80s and was an Army musician and nothing he sends is anywhere related to what he does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Doubt its a spoofed address as they are sending to his contacts list. So somebody has his password, which can be easily fixed by changing it. Also check your sent items and the recycle bin as they usually delete all your sent items for you at the same time. Have just checked my sent items and there they all are loads of them. Im definately confussed!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 You havent opened any e-mail attachments? I have a friend who keeps on sending me strange emails, sort of work related yet the fellow is well into his 80s and was an Army musician and nothing he sends is anywhere related to what he does Im usually very cautious when reading emails, i dont generally open email attachments unless its from a trusted source Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 So,.. you're not selling Viagra then? If so, i'll cancel my order. Seriously, had this happen to a few friends and ex girlfriend. Could it be facebook related? It was in their case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I wish I was, at least that would answer why its happened!!!! But no its definately not facebook related as im not even on facebook! Very Strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Cheers guys, I have just changed my password but the thing is my emails dont appear to have been read as they are still marked as unread. When I looked at one of the emails being sent it looks like a link has just been attached but this link goes straight to a canadian pharmacy and goes straight to the viagra page!!! Could it been a virus that has been sent to my email address which then once opened it corrupts my account and sends numerous emails to all that are in my address book. Just trying to get my head around it really!!! What ever you do... do not click on the li... oh too late! Most likely what has happened is that you opened an attachment or link which has infected your machine with a virus, it could be a number of different types. This then sits on your computer and when you type in [email protected] - the virus waits for the next part, your password. Once it has this, another worm type virus sends out spam or virus infected messages from that mailing account. This is in the hope that someone else will click on a link & have another infected machine. This can be quite dangerous as a lot of people using credit card & other fiance websites from the computer... this is also at risk. Before you change the password, update your virus software to ensure it has the latest definition files on. Then run a full scan of your PC. Reset hotmail password. Monitor to see if this has resolved it. Also NEVER open an e-mail which you are suspicious about, or not sure of the original. Just opening an e-mail will inform the sender that this is a 'live' e-mail account. You will then see a huge influx of SPAM as your e-mail address is sold on, it is a business at the end of the day... just not a legitiment one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Cheers for the info mate. Its certainly complex stuff, well it is to me anyway as im an absolute nightmare with computers!! But will get on to updated my anti virus software straight away. Much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Cheers for the info mate. Its certainly complex stuff, well it is to me anyway as im an absolute nightmare with computers!! But will get on to updated my anti virus software straight away. Much appreciated No worries, it is very complex & number of factors contribute to how it happens, I broken it down as much as I could. What anti virus software are you running by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 If it helps anyone suss this for Colin, here are the headers of a typical message. they come from "Colin Heward". I get several a day, citing various links I do not, as yet, need Honest... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abz Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 If it helps anyone suss this for Colin, here are the headers of a typical message. they come from "Colin Heward". I get several a day, citing various links I do not, as yet, need Honest... Looks like the e-mail is going to whifbitz amongst others too. From: Colin Heward To: , , , , , It is difficult to track down the perpetrators, though the e-mail is stating to originate from Poland. IP Address: 80.52.139.85 IP Host: gul85.internetdsl.tpnet.pl Continent: Europe (EU) Country: Poland (PL) State: Dolnoslaskie City: Jelenia Góra ISP: Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. Organization: Polish Telecom Time zone: Europe/Warsaw Continent Lat/Lon: 48.69083 / 9.1405 Country Lat/Lon: 52 / 20 City Lat/Lon: (50.9008) / (15.7253) IP Language: Polish IP Currency: Zloty (PLN) IDD Code: +48 This doesn't always mean though the e-mail is coming from there, for all we know it is coming from Australia, off a server in Moscow & spewing from Poland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creative Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I had this problem recently as well. I only use hotmail occasionally now but I was getting random emails until hotmail marked my account as spam sending. A few security questions later and they regranted access to my account and the spam stopped. I'm sure hotmail can help if you contact them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themodifiedkid Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 THanks again for all your help. Havent been able to get on line for a couple of days, but the anti virus software I had obviously wasnt up to doing the job so have now got a new antivirus package that has cleaned the computer right up so hopefully it will be able to keep on top of things, and stop anything like this happening again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 LOL Sorry mate just seen this, good job you dont have my email or i would have printed the lot off for laughs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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