A relative overseas sent a very strange email and it appears that her account was hacked. How is this done? I thought these accounts were secure?
I have a Gmail account which I use to hold in cyberspace various documents I may need overseas, such as passport details etc. How can I protect that account?
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Make sure the password is a secure one and make sure nobody else knows it.
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Is this the spurious email to many contacts offering pharmacy services (or other variants)? Daughter had this, from memory there was a spurious address in her contacts, or an item "stuck" in her outbox - can't remember which. It was irritating, getting mails from her every so often with just a link in. When I researched it, it definitely seemed to be only hotmail related but I can't remember if her account appeared to have been compromised.
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It happened to me. I believe it was because I used the same password for some stuff I ordered on-line as my hotmail account. I used my hotmail to access the on-line company.
My fault for being careless. I now use a different password for everything.
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>> A relative overseas sent a very strange email and it appears that her account was
>> hacked. How is this done? I thought these accounts were secure?
>>
How is it done? First you need to establish whether the account was hacked or was it spoofed?
The answer to your question, in relatively simple terms, can be found at the link below
tinyurl.com/n73gst
Also, to secure the account, look at the full instructions given at these Microsoft websites:
windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=6ea0c7b3-1473-4176-b03f-145b951dcb41
Account Compromise - Unauthorized Account Access - How to Recover Your Account
tinyurl.com/2csxafa
What to Do If Your Hotmail Account Is Hacked or Hijacked
>> I have a Gmail account which I use to hold in cyberspace various documents I
>> may need overseas, such as passport details etc. How can I protect that account?
>>
IMO, if you really want to be secure, you need to do all these as a minimum
1. always use https e.g. (the s denotes a secure connection) to log on.
2. always clear your cookies on the computer/browser you use to access your web mail
3. do not use questions with easily guessed answers, or answers easily found from your facebook, car4play, etc. pages, for resetting forgotten passwords.
Think as if you are a burglar trying to break in to your account, and then try and put barriers you know only you could overcome. For example, if your password is the combined registration numbers of first two cars, would anyone else be able to guess or work out that combination, or would a dictionary brute force attack ever be able to crack that password?
Last edited by: Suppose on Thu 2 Dec 10 at 10:41
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Thanks
Is it as simple as ...always use https e.g. (the s denotes a secure connection) to log on?
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>> Thanks
>>
>> Is it as simple as ...always use https e.g. (the s denotes a secure connection)
>> to log on?
>>
No. Unless you have taken all other precautions already listed, and are sure the computer/wi-fi/network that you use for access to gmail does not have a keylogger trojan, botnet, overhead spy camera, and your password cannot be cracked by brute force.
Full details in links given by others.
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Hotmail account hacked - how - rtj70
