Email account hijacked :(

Strife212 · 22 Dec 2008 at 17:22

Bit of a 'thanks for the info' post I suppose but I'm a bit annoyed :/

Had this email address for 6 years so literally countless accounts are linked to it, and someone has keylogged me somewhere by the looks of it and changed all my details and recovery info.

I'm suprised as I consider my PC to be pretty secure and I use common sense when downloading anything.

Going to have to go through my computers completely with scans and then make a new account and link everything to it, I hate to think that all my money is gone from my accounts but that will have to wait and see ._.

Don't think theres any chance of getting my old address back, I've sent MS a message (hotmail) but I don't hold much hope.

Ciphon · 22 Dec 2008 at 17:26

Strife212 said:
Don't think theres any chance of getting my old address back, I've sent MS a message (hotmail) but I don't hold much hope.

Like you say.. highly doubt it!

Must almost be like having your wallet stolen

topgun06 · 22 Dec 2008 at 17:51

Must be gutting mate. I'd hate for that to happen to me

Nix · 22 Dec 2008 at 17:58

I've heard good things about Hotmail's recovery. Don't give up hope just yet.

Nitefly · 22 Dec 2008 at 18:00

How does one get infected with a keylogger?

mrk · 22 Dec 2008 at 18:09

Nitefly said:
How does one get infected with a keylogger?

One does by :

- Accidentally visiting a compromised website
- Running an unknown application without scanning it first
- ^ A result of not having a good resident AV shield

Mr. Gary · 22 Dec 2008 at 18:30

Nix said:
I've heard good things about Hotmail's recovery. Don't give up hope just yet.

+1

To the OP. my account was compromised a couple of months back. i was without my account for 3 days.

you get a reply from MS with about 20 questions. answer them correctly and you get your account back. Easy. i'll see if i can dig out the E-mail.

EDIT: Found it. Questions shown below.

Please send us the following information:

1. Your Windows Live ID
2. Your First and Last Names
3. Date of Birth (Month/Date/Year)
4. Country or Region
5. State (if applicable)
6. Zip or Postal Code
7. The IP address of the computer that you used to access your account. To determine your IP address, visit the following Web site:
http://www.whatismyip.com
Note: The numbers that appear at the top of this Web page is your IP address.
8. Answer to your Secret Question (if applicable)
9. Alternate email address associated with the account (if applicable)
10. The name of your Internet service provider used to access your account. An ISP is a company that provides an end user with a connection to the Internet and other similar services, such as e-mail. Examples include MSNIA, EarthLink, and Comcast.
11. Last date and time you successfully signed in

More information that may help us verify account ownership.
For Windows Live Mail customers:
12. Any folders you created (aside from the default folders)
13. Contacts in your address book
14. Subjects of any old mail that is in your Inbox or mail folders

For Windows Live Messenger customers:
15. A list of Contacts in your buddy list
16. Your Windows Live Messenger Nickname (your Messenger display name)

Hxc · 22 Dec 2008 at 18:33

mrk said:
One does by :

- Accidentally visiting a compromised website
- Running an unknown application without scanning it first
- ^ A result of not having a good resident AV shield

To be honest if you have a browser infectable by visiting a website you have problems.

I've never ever had a virus, and I was running this Vista install for about a year without any AV. Installed NOD recently and it's still an all clear.

Why? I'm not a tool.

Strife212 · 22 Dec 2008 at 18:40

I'm almost certain it was from logging in elsewhere, my systems are clean from what I have been able to find out.

To be honest if you have a browser infectable by visiting a website you have problems.

IE 7 is completely open at the minute, there was a major exploit announced a few days ago where merely visting a website allows someone to take complete control of your system. (On the latest fully patched version) I think MS may have rushed out a patch now.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10124702-83.html

Energize · 22 Dec 2008 at 19:46

Hxc said:
To be honest if you have a browser infectable by visiting a website you have problems.

I don't think you realise how simple it is for a javascript to infect a computer. Not much a browser can do about it. That's why you should use noscript or run your browser in a sandbox.

Hellsmk2 · 22 Dec 2008 at 20:00

Hxc said:
To be honest if you have a browser infectable by visiting a website you have problems.

I've never ever had a virus, and I was running this Vista install for about a year without any AV. Installed NOD recently and it's still an all clear.

Why? I'm not a tool.

This. I've not had any AV for the past 5 - 6 years. Whenever I've felt the urge to check for anything bad, it's come up clear.

Hxc · 22 Dec 2008 at 20:09

Energize said:
I don't think you realise how simple it is for a javascript to infect a computer. Not much a browser can do about it. That's why you should use noscript or run your browser in a sandbox.

Then why is such infection not massively widespread?

Energize · 22 Dec 2008 at 21:23

Hxc said:
Then why is such infection not massively widespread?

It is. It's how people get spyware, they visit dodgy websites and a script installs it onto their computer.

Strife212 · 23 Dec 2008 at 13:52

Quick update: managed to change the password and email of almost everything, forgot my steam account though, remembered it this morning and tried to update it but its been stolen already

Microsoft has replied to me with that form to fill in though, so I think I might be in luck.