Recently my e-mail was hacked how is still beyond me or my web tech, we suspect tracking cookies through spam e-mails It is very important not to open any suspicious e-mails, (even with virus scan,malware scans, spyware, adware any of it there’s always a window for hacker to snake his way through). This was a terrible thing E-mails were sent to all 1800 contacts not even close to using proper grammar or spelling and many were fooled by this! I received roughly 100 phone calls that morning of concern for my well being. This is the email they sent:
‘I'm writing this with tears in my eyes, We came down here to United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit cards and cells were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us. We have been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than 3hrs from now but having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the bills, I'm freaked out at the moment.’
I was in a tailspin that morning I was so flustered with no access to my Gmail and didn’t even know what to do! So I called my Web Tech and he had another job! Luckily he understood the severity of the issue and made time in his schedule to help me. We recovered the Gmail account through a ridiculous Gmail recovery process and they had drafts of response e-mails ready to go, and send off if someone replied. That read:
’ Glad you came online, ,my flight leaves soon, all i need now is $1970’
they also sent personal e-mails to people who asked for proof that it was in fact me. Then there was an e-mail forward setting to a foreign email address to do all of the responses through this e-mail of course is next to impossible to trace, the only thing you can recover about who it is that has you hacked is general area which in the “My Predicament” scams case is located in Nigeria.
This scam started about 2 years ago and has been increasingly growing in popularity due to easy placement of tracking cookies in your browser through social networking sites such as Facebook which practically gives them the information to hack your account manually at times, which brings me to a quick point that needs to be made Do not over inform on Facebook there’s some profile information better left unsaid that a lot of people just see the form and fill out info. Back to the main point if these tracers can be slipped in through any unsecure connection on the internet, and when they are slipped into your browser, system, etc you become extremely vulnerable! With every keystroke and movement watched by someone whose sole intention is to steal your information/identity.
If this sort of thing does happen to you there are some email settings you should check to prevent the hackers from recovering it back from you. It’s recommended by google if you check these settings I it is a gmail account if it isn’t just find the same settings on whatever it happens with but it seems popular with Gmail and Comcast accounts due to the email forwarding having lack of security.
Account Security:
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password [pick a new secure password]
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password Recovery Options [verify secret question, SMS and secondary e-mail address]
Potential Spam:
Settings -> General -> Signature [make sure nothing as been added]
Settings -> General -> Vacation Responder [make sure it's disabled and empty]
E-mail Theft
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Send Mail As [make sure it is using your correct e-mail address]
Settings -> Filters [no filters that forward or delete e-mail]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> Forwarding [disabled or correct address]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> POP Download [disabled]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> IMAP Access [disabled
How do I Protect Myself? The best way to protect yourself is a heavy artillery of scans which I have a list with links to the best FREE scanning programs to keep your computer safe the only thing I recommend that you pay for is Norton 360. You should also inform your local authorities and the ICC, which is the government agency for internet crimes.
Best Free Computer Security programs
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