I feel as tho I've been hacked or something :/

DoeZ · 16 Jan 2014

Hey all...

I know it's a strange title there but that's exactly how I feel lately. I've changed my passwords to both my email & FB in the past month like 3x's already. And some really strange things are happening that I have no explanation of whatsoever. Let's start with how it all began. We had a serious snow storm a few weeks back. It was actually a blizzard (2nd one I lived thru) Now some of may say so what you got a lot of snow...well that's not all a blizzard actually does...it starts days before with some freezing rain...ya freezing rain which is really then you get the hollowing winds like a train running thru town and then finally when you think it's all settled down that's when the blizzard actually starts to wind up and start at one end and work its way thru the country and when it gets to you...you better have everything you need because you aren't going anywhere with the amount of snow mother nature is about to dump on you. And that's actually what she did. She dumped so much snow on us over the frozen ice etc. that I couldn't even find a window to look out from thry were covered in snow and my poor pooch he had to go outside but I couldn't get the door open it was jammed in by all the snow. Well all this snow did something to my router and my dish box too actually. The hubby took care of the Dish and I unplugged the modem and the router and let them sit for a bit while I tried to look out any window to see the damage but it was still snowing...But when I plugged the modem back in I waited for everything to light up before I plugged in the router. Now I'm not sure if I put them in the right ports or if I've chosen the correct settings...but what I don't understand is...if I have a wireless router that gets hooked up to 2 pc's and a printer via phone line...why or how does Realtek come in play here?

And I do apologize for this being a long note here but if I don't tell it in details then I get confused and you'll be confused lol. Now since all this I tried to play with the router a bit by switching the plugs into different ports or change the settings and I had noticed a while back after my initial reinstall that my laptop was really kinda luggish...my bars were never really full anymore. Until I had changed the settings but when I changed these settings I also noticed that there were some other strange things going on. But I need to back up just before that...because before all that I had hit the reset button and totally lost our router info and everything that went with it. I had no clue whatsoever on how to get it back either. It was 2 days before I finally asked my son for his help. So when he came over the one day I asked him about it and he actually did it all from his phone...amazing what you can do with technology today...my son's a computer geek in a sense and works for a Dish Co. as their #1 Dish installer etc. so he knows a bit of what he's doing so I felt comfy with him. But still after all of this is said and done...I really started feeling nervous about something and I couldn't put my finger on it for some reason...so I changed my password for FB no problem and did the same on my iPhone no problem...now on my email I also have that to where it's a 2nd step verification with my iPhone so I felt ok with that. Until last week when I had to send a letter to my lawyer and it was sent no problem but I found it very odd that I get a letter from their "postmaster@theirdomain.com" at 3:15

a.m. like wth is that all about? That's about all I could say at that moment lol...seriously...and I didn't bother resending it because I had sent it to his personal email and he did get it that time. But I also received another email from that "postmaster" once again on the next day as well. Well then I started thinking maybe I have something wrong in my email so I changed my password in there and I did this probably 3x's in the past 2 days...because I really started getting unwanted mail and in my iPhone I some how lost my contacts and I have no idea what happened there because I didn't do anything to my phone at all and then here's the big one...I get a phone call from somebody in Domenica. Thankfully I wasn't near my phone to answer it. So strange things happening in my iPhone all of a sudden where I'm losing my contacts my most important contacts. And when I try to change my password for my email in my email like I've done before I get this message now that says..."server is unavailable" but I can still do all my other stuff. And my wifi on my iPhone still says what it's supposed to and has a lock on it. I just don't feel comfortable at all.

So I feel I've been hacked and I definitely don't feel comfy at all...not sure about my router or my MSE...or my SAS or MAS for that matter. How do I go about fixing any of this or where do I start? Any advice or help would greatly be appreciated

Thanks
DoeZ

DustSailor · 16 Jan 2014

DoeZ said:

if I have a wireless router that gets hooked up to 2 pc's and a printer via phone line...why or how does Realtek come in play here?

Realtek is probably a driver on your computer. Without it, your computer usually cannot use the port that connects the computer to your router. Even if you are using wireless, there is still a wireless 'port', and it still uses a driver to connect.

DoeZ said:

I had to send a letter to my lawyer and it was sent no problem but I found it very odd that I get a letter from their "postmaster@theirdomain.com" ...and I didn't bother resending it because I had sent it to his personal email and he did get it that time. But I also received another email from that "postmaster" once again on the next day as well. ...because I really started getting unwanted mail

Postmaster is just an automated reply from your mail server, or the company who administrates where all your emails are stored on their servers. You do not really need to read it, it usually just means there is something wrong, either with your mail setup, or a wrong email address that you attempted to send some kind of mail to.

DoeZ said:

and in my iPhone I some how lost my contacts and I have no idea what happened there because I didn't do anything to my phone at all and then here's the big one...I get a phone call from somebody in Domenica.

Your phone likely isn't connected to your computer. Your router is your own personal router, so no one is taking over both your phone and computer. Highly unlikely, as most hackers aim for big targets (no pun intended, considering the recent Target store security breach). More likely is something happened on your phone itself to lose your contacts. I am not around you, and thus unable to explain it from this distance. The fact someone called you 'from Domenica' was merely coincidence. The only good that came from not answering it would be if it was long distance and you may have been charged as such.

DoeZ said:

Any advice or help would greatly be appreciated

My advice concerns your computer. Make sure you have only a single antivirus program installed on your computer. A hassle-free (also free of cost) program to use is Microsoft Security Essentials. Just make sure you have some kind of antivirus program installed.

Also, do not click on just any link, whether it be through an email message or even in a google search. Try to only click links that you know you can trust the website, such as Walmart.com, facebook.com, sevenforums.com, google.com, and lots lots more. if txyforwinsses .com is displayed and you never heard of it before, avoid clicking it. If you hover your mouse over a link, it usually displays the website the link directs you to, such as this one: https://www.sevenforums.com/
If you put your mouse over the blue letters, a small box usually on the bottom-left corner of your internet browser will tell you where it links to. Try it now to see for yourself. This one here that I made - says youtube.com, but actually links to sevenforums. little tricky.

DoeZ · 16 Jan 2014

Thank You for replying. Gregrocker really helped me a lot when he did a reinstall of my laptop here...and he actually set up my router a bit different for me for my homegroup...and it worked great...but it didn't use my realtek...I can't recall how he did it...but my phone and the printer go thru Vonage so I don't know how he had it set up and I'd like it back that way lol.

Yes I do have Microsoft Security Essentials...Greg was very adamant on the products he was suggesting for my laptop and he swore by them. He also added Malwarebytes & SuperAnti Spyware as well and I keep them all up to date and run a scan weekly as well.

I just don't think I have my settings right for my router and that's whats making me nervous and feeling as if I'm letting others in on my line or something.

Thanks for you help
DoeZ

DustSailor · 16 Jan 2014

I don't quite know all the things Greg did, so I can't quite help you on that part. I do not know where you are seeing realtek, but if it is the driver you are using for your computer wifi, then yes, even the homegroup connects through that. All internet or intranet, etc connections go through your wifi using some kind of driver, unless they use the same or a different driver to connect through a hard 'Lan' line (also called a computer network cable).

Your phone doesn't use your computer to connect (it can, but usually it is not set up that way). Your phone connects to your router, which then connects to whatever company your get your internet connection from. Your phone uses this wifi, but can also use data or phone calls/texts from your phone company. Some people use home wifi because phone companies often charge more to use data from your phone company.

All of those that Greg mentioned are good. Honestly, I don't know what problems you are having, or what is making you nervous. You haven't said anything specific, other than the things I've explained. Don't feel nervous just for nervous sake. tell me what is wrong. What is happening that you think you are being hacked? Can you still connect? What has changed?

indianacarnie · 16 Jan 2014

I concur. I see no evidence of being hacked. What specifically makes you suspect that? Can you still access the web? Has something "strange" shown up either on your machine or your facebook account? Who is your e-mail provider and have you contacted them about the unserved mail? Sometimes servers go down, just a fact of life. My multiple yahoo mail accounts were out for days recently, but seem to be o.k. now,but I am in the process of migrating all my mail to another provider, AOL in my case. Have you tried doing that? Set up a new mail account with another provider and try from it I mean.

You can also run Windows own network diagnostic if you're worried about that. Just click on the network/wifi icon on the lower right of your taskbar. (The series of increasing bars) Then click on the link at the bottom "Open Network and Sharing Center". Then click on "Troubleshoot Problems".

ICIT2LOL · 17 Jan 2014

What you could do is run one of these I would start with the Kaspersky it will scan from boot up
5 Bootable AntiVirus Rescue CD for Windows: Free Download

DoeZ · 18 Jan 2014

I'm really tired of this. I got to be honest with you. It took me forever first of all to even find my post...And after I found it I started typing and telling you all what's been happening and my thoughts about this and that...blah blah blah....and it happened all over again. Everything I wrote from telling you about what's happening with my email and my iPhone and the results that just cam out of my almost 3 hrs of being on a phone with yahoo customer support...and taking screen shots of pics that I felt were better for you to look at so you would get a better idea of maybe what I'm talking about...and I'm trying to put all these pics in a folder so I can attach the folder here for you...a zip file easy peasy right? Then how come I completely lost everything I wrote here twice...not once but twice...and now I've wasted my day so I'm adding the folder and probably missing some of the pics I took but hoping you get the jist of it all...and knowing that yahoo was a complete waste of 3 hrs of my life I'll never get back and even changing my pw in front of the support person didn't work so who knows what's wrong with it all...I'm still betting on that I've been hacked. But good luck at looking at my files hope you can figure someting out of it...I'll try to get back later on tonight.

DustSailor · 18 Jan 2014

Doez,

Please do not mistake what I am about to say as offensive. I have the best intentions. I understand you are having a hard time with your computer. To be honest, I believe there are many aspects of your computer that you do not quite understand yet. That is perfectly fine, probably most people are in the same boat as you. I recommend that you take some kind of computer class or something similar, just to help you out with some of these problems you are having. A basic computer class might give you a whole new understanding of computers, and allow you to do much more with yours than you originally thought possible. You might even be able to get hands-on experience and help with many of your questions if the class allows it. This is a good idea for any person wishing to learn more about computers.

As for your problem, I cannot say why these things are happening, simply because I couldn't see what happened. I've never experienced these things before, so I have no first-hand experience to help you from.

As to the pictures, what is wrong with them? Can you connect to the internet just fine? Why are you looking through the properties of your internet connection? Nothing in there remotely indicates that you have been hacked. That isn't the place you would look. Scan with the antivirus and antimalware programs you have on your computer... as you said you did. They will find any bad things like that and remove them. I am very confused, according to the pictures, as to why you can possibly think you have been hacked. I cannot guess what is happening to your computer concerning the loss of your message written on these forums. Could your computer somehow be crashing? That is not malware, but rather a computer with lots of errors from any number of things. An example would be hardware inside the computer getting old and breaking down. Anything could be wrong. But very unlikely that you have been hacked.