E-Mail Infected

[bishop101]

Hi, in the last couple of weeks my E-mail has been getting spam daily. Usually they send 10 e-mails and make it look like it's a "failed notice to deliver" from the Post Master and they have something attached to it. I always delete (and never opened)them and claim them as junk and spam but they keep sending them.

But what worries more is yesterday I got e-mail from a couple of contacts telling me they received e-mail from me with links to phishing sites. Now this really pisses me off as they are using my contact list to send spamming e-mails in my name. Please help, any suggestion.

I changed my e-mail, I don't think my password was compromised but I don't know how else they could use my contact list...?

 

[James Colbert]

Run Malwarebytes:

Malwarebytes

And if you really want a deep down thorough scan, including email attachements, zip file contents, etc:

Emsisoft Anti-Malware (a2), Mamutu, Online Armor and freeware security tools downloads

Do the full scan. It will take some time.

James

 

[Buzzsaw]

The first thing I would advise to do is change your email password. I've had that happen and I changed my email password and it stopped immediately. Might not stop it but it can't hurt to try that first and then do all the scans.

 

[bishop101]

Thanks, I'll run scans change password and see if they stop.

 

[bishop101]

Well I changed my password and somehow they're still sending spam. Now one of my contacts is pissed at me and threatening me with physical violence, but thats for another forum.

Should I consider talking to hotmail support? I have glarysoft spybot search and destroy and I ran the scan and cleaned all the cookies. I haven't installed maleware bits as I don't want to have a bunch of different spyware programs, but if there is no conflicting issues I will go ahead with the install.

If anybody else has any advice it would be greatly appreciate it, as this is really turning bad for me and my contacts think I'm doing this on purpose.

And if someone with the knowledge could explain to me how this works? I mean, I have Avast Pro for viruses, a firewall, several spyware removal programs yet they are constantly spamming me and my contacts. I changed the password for the said e-mail account, and although I have other accounts this is the only one compromised.

How is it possible? Please help.

 

[bassfisher6522]

Download it and run it....I use about 6 different apps for spyware, adware and malware. The key is to set them to run when you open the app and tell it to do it's job and just use one for real time protection. This way there is no conflicts. Not one spyware app will find everything, that's why we use more than just one or two apps for scanning your system for bugs. One app will find something the others don't. It's based on how current each app is being updated.

http://www.sevenforums.com/software/92-free-great-programs-windows-7-a.html

Go threw this list and get 2 or 3 more, download and run them you will be surprised at the findings. Also, a good utilities program for just general maintenance and upkeep of system couldn't hurt. I use Tuneup Utilities 2010 for that.

 

[James Colbert]

It's not incoming mails that are sending the infected emails to your contacts, It's an existing infection. First, backup your contacts file to another folder and delete all your contacts your email client uses (not the backup!) until you have it straightened out. Then, run the two scans recommend above. Both have free versions that don't run realtime protection, so it shouldn't matter what other programs you have on your system.

After, MSE and malwarebytes are your two best friends. MSE runs constantly in the background (with no noticeable resource usage). The free version of Malwarebytes will need to be periodically manually run.

As for the future, I highly recommend viewing email in plain text only and do not open attachments you're not sure of. A password change will not prevent spam from coming in. Your email program or IP may have a junk mail filter you can use.

Again, if you want the outgoing infected emails to stop, follow the above advice!

James

 

[bishop101]

How can I make a backup file of my contacts if I use Hotmail. The contacts are on their servers, I don't use Outlook.

Edit** I exported the list to my hard drive as .csv file then deleted all the contacts on the hotmail server and will run the spyware scans.

 

[James Colbert]

How can I make a backup file of my contacts if I use Hotmail. The contacts are on their servers, I don't use Outlook.

Edit** I exported the list to my hard drive as .csv file then deleted all the contacts on the hotmail server and will run the spyware scans.

Also, you should probably refrain from sending emails until the scans clean up the system. With hotmail, I guess you have to view mail in HTML, but you may want to consider getting an email client that allows text based reading. Not as exciting as HTML, but certainly safer. Post back and let us know how it goes or if you have problems.


James

 

[Imperfect1]

I have had the same problem, and here's a completely different way of looking at the problem: It is very likely that there is no infection within your email or your system. Once a hacker gets your email address, it can send emails completely separate and apart from your system. So anything you do on your system is not very helpful (in fact, it may be totally irrelevant).

However, having said that, just in case the problem IS within your system, here's what you can do:

From a different computer, not the one with the problem, change your password and other security information (like your secret question and answer).

Always "sign out" or "log off" when leaving your email, don't just click on the X in the top right-hand corner of the screen. That way your email is not left open -- it is shut down and less accessible.

If the above 2 suggestions don't work, you may have to delete your contact list (temporarily). If the problem IS on your system, and you have deleted your contact list, the hacker has nothing to utilize to send out infected emails.

I deleted my contact list about a month ago because of this problem, and I expected I would reinstall it as soon as I felt it was 'safe' to do so. However, I found that I really don't even need it, cause many of my emails are 'Replies' -- and in regard to 'New' emails -- before I deleted my contact list, I made a copy of it in a Word doc --- so that if I needed any of those addresses, I would still have them. So since then, I haven't really felt the need to reinstall the contact list. And the best news is the problem seems to be over.

 

[stve]

Lots of sites i visit want my email address & I usually give them a second email address I have just for the junk.
Its amazing how much spam it collects compared to my main email address.

 

[Imperfect1]

Lots of sites i visit want my email address & I usually give them a second email address I have just for the junk.
Its amazing how much spam it collects compared to my main email address.

That's a great idea too, stve!