Hacked EMail Account?

[sippo]

I've had a colleague come in today asking about their live account. Basically their email account is sending out links via email to their contacts. Would this be a virus/malware? I've heard of this sort of thing but never come accross it before.

[Dos_Box]

Have they changed the password, and is it still happening?

[X-13]

That happened to me on an old live account and to a friend using Yahoo.

 

Not sure how we fixed it. As mine was old I purged the address book and changed the password. There were no viruses on either of our computers [Mine had been completely wiped a few times.]

 

Suggest changing the password to it. If it's being accessed by some sort of spam-bot it shouldn't be able to get in and send crap.

[sippo]

Should a password reset sort it then?

[X-13]

Could do. It depends on what the actual cause is.

 

I would suggest it anyway though.

[Dos_Box]

It's a first step to finding out the where, when and how. If you change the password and it is still happening then other action may have to be taken.

[X-13]

It's a first step to finding out the where, when and how. If you change the password and it is still happening then other action may have to be taken.

 

Also, using Hotmail's "Log out from all places" is pretty useful here too.

[JoeBloggs]

This is usually down to Malware. It will have stolen his password, but it could of happened at any PC he has logged into your e-maill account on.

 

I would suggest MalwareBytes on any PCs he has checked your e-mail on recently - and change his password straight away! I would also inform other people who have used the same PCs as him recently (to check your e-mail) to change their passwords too.