Has anyone on this site been the victim of a virus that somehow gets all the addresses from your email account and sends out emails in your name to those people?
I did not realize it was happening until I got DAEMONS from non-active email addresses that were still in my address book.
I am wondering if I "caught" it on one of the links from this site.
Anyone else got that problem?

If something has an odd subject I don't open it , I have preview panes in my email so never have to click on them if I don't want to.

One of the women from church was scolding me for getting that and having gotten emails from me about crazy subjects.

Another woman mentioned to her that they had just gotten emails like that from her account a month ago and it was likely passed on through her.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2011 09:00AM by nomilk.

Bottom Line: your email account has been hacked. The hacker now has open access to your contact list and will send out spam in your name - links to 'Canadian Pharmacies' is common. Any email is vulnerable, but it seems Hotmail gets a disproportionate share of these.

Solution: immediately change your email password, then download, install and do a full scan with Malwarebytes (obtainable from filehippo.com). It may well be that keylogger malware that stole your password is on your system.

but it has happened to my TBM daughter's e-mail account, my ex's e-mail account, his last partner's e-mail account, and my boyfriend's e-mail account.

I think that all they did was change their password on their e-mail account.

P.S. NONE of them frequent exmo--EVER.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2011 09:09AM by cl2.

I have had one for about 4 months .It got hold of my friend's address, although I only contact him about 2 times a year ..Suddenly, on a weekly basis, I was getting adds for Viagara ,sexually explicit adds, and troll for foreign wives type adds ..

After verifying that my friend had not his mind, I now delete them without reading them and have blocked further contact --I now use facebook to maintain contact.

JB

This type of virus has been around forever. I was a security admin for a software company and we struggled with this several times. Best defenses: Use Linux w/Firefox or Opera. Right, like you're going to use Linux! Well, if you must use Windows, at least stay away from IE. There are so many options now!

Also, use a STRONG password on your email account. I know it's a pain using long and difficult passwords, but it's worth it to keep from getting hacked. Just google strong passwords and see what makes the best ones (hint: random numbers better than words). One trick is to think of a saying you know really well, then take the first letter of each word and form a password from them. Use some caps and numbers in there as well. And finally, don't click on anything from anyone you don't recognize. And even if you do know someone, don't click on anything from them that seems phishy.

Happy browsing!

Another Linux snob :P That is a subject that can get hotter than the Christian/Atheist wars!

Hey now Linux is free to all. Come join our ranks! (Also I'm going to require ten percent of your annual income for this free gift. You must first prepare yourself for the blessings of Linux before you can partake.)

It's true though, Windows picks up viruses like Warren Jeffs in a red light district. Linux is more like the bubble boy from Seinfeld.

"Moops!"

Yes it can. I hesitated for just a moment before I hit the "Post" button.

After I got a virus,
my computer's a lot slower,
but my sex life is WAY faster.

Your email has been hacked. The only thing to do is to change your password on your email account. then they have no further access to your email account. It worked for me, anyway.

One thing that I watch out for as a tip off to a bad email is any that start with RE: but don't have a subject line that I would have ever used. Any RE: should be a subject you remember typing.