Hacked Email Account

artmanphoto · 5 Oct 2017, 06:32 AM

I think my daughter's hotmail email account has been hacked and I don't know what to tell her to prevent future issues or damage.

I received an email from her today and in the From: field it said her first and last name <jo@attic-inspirations.co.uk>

The message body said "I thought you would enjoy it http://www.bk7k.tefsinm.press/

The .uk email address is not her address and I don't know how they got her real first and last name.

Can anyone tell me how to have her proceed to safeguard her hotmail email address?

Thanks, Bill

Berenburger · 5 Oct 2017, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artmanphoto

I think my daughter's hotmail email account has been hacked and I don't know what to tell her to prevent future issues or damage.

I received an email from her today and in the From: field it said her first and last name <jo@attic-inspirations.co.uk>

The message body said "I thought you would enjoy it http://www.bk7k.tefsinm.press/

The .uk email address is not her address and I don't know how they got her real first and last name.

Can anyone tell me how to have her proceed to safeguard her hotmail email address?

Probably this is spam and not the result of hacking. Your daughter need to scan her computer on viruses, etc. And following up the updates offered.

Adrian Bell · 5 Oct 2017, 08:49 PM

NB - A person does not need to have access to an email account in order to send an email which appears to have come from that account. Email "From:" fields and others are VERY easily forged and should not be trusted 100%. They could have picked your daughter's name from anywhere, or it could just be a coincidence. It is possible that one of her friends' address books has been hacked, or more likely that it has come from a website she has signed in to at some time. There is unfortunately nothing she can do about this.

FredOnline · 5 Oct 2017, 09:26 PM

Like, I guess, most members of this forum, I've had a Hotmail account for many years, and all those years ago I didn't take steps to safeguard/secure that account.

I've learnt a lot since then, especially from this forum!

At one stage a few years ago, I started getting spam sent from that e-mail address, and looking at the people the e-mails were being sent to, it was obvious the information had been taken from the address book in that account.

And again, since then, I've taken steps to secure that account (changed password, 2FA, etc), but from time to time I still get occasional spam being sent from that account e-mail address (again to people from the address book).

I've resigned myself to the fact that I certainly haven't been able to stop the spam - the information is out there, and I have no control of it now.

I would advise your daughter to abandon the hotmail account and start again with a new e-mail address - and be very careful who she gives that address to.

5 Oct 2017, 06:32 AM	#1
artmanphoto Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Kansas City - USA Posts: 177	Hacked Email Account I think my daughter's hotmail email account has been hacked and I don't know what to tell her to prevent future issues or damage. I received an email from her today and in the From: field it said her first and last name <jo@attic-inspirations.co.uk> The message body said "I thought you would enjoy it http://www.bk7k.tefsinm.press/ The .uk email address is not her address and I don't know how they got her real first and last name. Can anyone tell me how to have her proceed to safeguard her hotmail email address? Thanks, Bill

5 Oct 2017, 08:49 PM	#3
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	NB - A person does not need to have access to an email account in order to send an email which appears to have come from that account. Email "From:" fields and others are VERY easily forged and should not be trusted 100%. They could have picked your daughter's name from anywhere, or it could just be a coincidence. It is possible that one of her friends' address books has been hacked, or more likely that it has come from a website she has signed in to at some time. There is unfortunately nothing she can do about this. Last edited by Adrian Bell : 5 Oct 2017 at 08:55 PM.

5 Oct 2017, 09:26 PM	#4
FredOnline The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 2,616	Like, I guess, most members of this forum, I've had a Hotmail account for many years, and all those years ago I didn't take steps to safeguard/secure that account. I've learnt a lot since then, especially from this forum! At one stage a few years ago, I started getting spam sent from that e-mail address, and looking at the people the e-mails were being sent to, it was obvious the information had been taken from the address book in that account. And again, since then, I've taken steps to secure that account (changed password, 2FA, etc), but from time to time I still get occasional spam being sent from that account e-mail address (again to people from the address book). I've resigned myself to the fact that I certainly haven't been able to stop the spam - the information is out there, and I have no control of it now. I would advise your daughter to abandon the hotmail account and start again with a new e-mail address - and be very careful who she gives that address to.