My email got hacked today

[Datman]

My inbox got hacked and everybody got an email with some bogus link. I called my provider and they gave me an 888 number to yahoo tech support. He asked to take over my computer to check some things out while I watched. He could tell I have a free version of AVG and at the end of the day I have 282 threats (tracking cookies) 0 registry and 0 memory issues. He wanted to sell me a 5 year subscription to AVG. I think this is all normal low level threats. I don’t think it’s worth it. I changed my password to a much better one besides I think I’m going to run Microsoft security essentials instead of AVG. As much as I appreciate his help I think it was all about the sale from the start. Just looking for other members experiences.

 

[TwoCables]

This is more common than you think. Your computer is clean. The only thing you have to do is change your e-mail password and move forward. Since you did that already, you're all set. I mean, Yahoo's e-mail servers were hacked. They didn't touch anyone's personal computers at all.

The same thing to my Comcast e-mail account. I use Outlook 2003, so the way I found out is like this: one day I was bored and I decided to see if I needed to clean up my Sent Items folder in Comcast's webmail. I logged in and well, lol, I had a ton of e-mails sent out from my account that I did not send - all of them were spam. So changed my password to something much stronger and it hasn't happened since.

So all they're doing is hacking the e-mail servers. This means they don't need to touch your personal computer. You see, by hacking the e-mail server, they get access to millions of e-mail accounts all at the same time without needing to access millions of personal computers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

You don't need to buy an AV. First, download AVAST! free; I've found it will block tracking cookies (something MSE and, apparently AVG, won't do). Then, download the appropriate AVG uninstaller from here. Turn off your internet connection, uninstall AVG and install AVAST! Turn your internet back on and have AVAST! check for updates. AVAST! will work fulltime and keep itself updated automatically at least a couple times a day. It's a good idea to run a full scan once a week and when you suspect something might have "snuck" onto your computer. Since I went back to AVAST! after trying MSE for a while, I've had no tracking cookies get onto my computer.

Once you get AVAST! up and running, download and install the free versions of MBAM and SAS. You should run scans with these once a week and when you suspect something. MBAM will find viruses, trojans, etc. that might have gotten by your AV and SAS will catch any spyware, such as tracking cookies that might manage to get onto your computer.

 

[UsernameIssues]

...I called my provider and they gave me an 888 number to yahoo tech support...

You might want to consider another e-mail provider. I see this happen several times a year to the Yahoo users that I support.

As has already been stated, there is no need to buy antivirus software. Avast or MSE should be fine.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While Yahoo is notorious for getting hacked, it isn't all that bad. My account has been hacked only once since 2007 when I started with Yahoo. Just don't give Yahoo any vital personal info and fudge what you do give a bit (such as birthdate).