Help! Did My Yahoo Account Just Get Hacked or Is It Just Spoofing?

Published July 24, 2013

Question by iStart: Help! Did my yahoo account just get hacked or is it just spoofing?
I got a spammy mail (on my gmail) from another email account (yahoo) of mine. I am aware of spoofing and I thought it could have been the case at the first look of it. But then as I checked the other names in the cc: and bcc: column I was shocked to see the email addresses of my friends whom I usually mail from the yahoo account. Has my account been hacked/cracked? Or spoofing? I have changed the password nonetheless but this is so creepy. Is there something I can do to stop it?

Best answer:

Answer by Jit
Hi iStart,

It sounds like your account has been compromised. You should quickly do the following things.

Reset Your Password

If your Yahoo! account’s password has been compromised, the fastest (and easiest) way to stop spam from being sent is to replace it with a new, strong password which will be more difficult for spammers to guess.

Reviewing Your Alternate Email Address Information

1.While changing your password will resolve most spam issues, it is important to check that your account’s alternate email address has not been modified. If it has been, the party responsible for the spamming may be able to regain access to your account.

2.To view your account’s alternate email address, go to the Account Information page – http://edit.yahoo.com/config/eval_profile -, under “Contact Information,” select Choose how Yahoo! contacts you.

3.If you don’t recognize the email on file, go to http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&id=SLN2058 for the steps to update/change it.

Note:Should your account continue to send spam after completing these steps, it is strongly recommend that you use a trusted anti-virus program or malware protection suite to review your system. Malware programs (key loggers, viruses, worms, etc.) are usually installed on your system without your knowledge by visiting an infected website and are intended to capture sensitive information and relay it to a third party.

4.If these steps do not resolve your issues, please go to http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?page=content&id=SLN2159 to learn how to combat an account that continues to send spam.

Hope this information was helpful! 🙂

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