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Question

Spamjacked

May 7, 2011 4:04PM PDT

I'm using MSN Vista on a HP dv6633 and on my hotmail account I'm receiving about 75 postmaster delivery failure notices a day for mail I did'nt send mostly for old obsolete addresses but I have been contacted by current contacts that they are receiving spam from me daily and have blocked me. I'm even receiving spam from my hotmail to my main mail account all thou my from name is misspelled. Spam is now the only thing I get. I've run every anti-virus, Malware,Spyware ect. I can find Please Help

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Has your Hotmail account password been hacked?
May 8, 2011 9:11PM PDT

If so the hacker may be sending spam through Hotmail's web access.

First thing, I would change that password.

Mark

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Which Hotmail Account?
May 9, 2011 6:14PM PDT

I have a hotmail address + 5 others through my MSN account and I guess I have a Windows Live Mail too but don't use it. Are they both the same. Do I have to change the password on all of them? Do they each have to be different? I'm sorry I'm so stupid.

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Sorry perhaps I misunderstood
May 9, 2011 7:01PM PDT

You said you were receiving about 75 postmaster delivery failure notices a day on your Hotmail account.

Did I misunderstand that?

Mark

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Changing Password
May 10, 2011 4:07PM PDT

I probably got you confused. I AM receiving about 75 postmaster notices a day on my Hotmail and I'm even receiving spam from my hotmail to my other mail accounts. So far the consensus is that I need to change my password. My question now is ... Do I have to change the passwords on all of my accounts and do they all need to be different passwords?

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(NT) That's up to you to try and decide.
May 10, 2011 4:54PM PDT
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I agree with Kees
May 11, 2011 5:41AM PDT

but I would start off with changing the Hotmail account password, and test that for a while.

One question. Does your Hotmail account show these emails as being sent? If not, then note what Grif said, that sender's email addresses can easily be spoofed. The spammers will send emails to others which look as if the sender is some other person, in your case you. There is little you can do about that but hope it will eventually stop.

However, if your Hotmail account does show these sent emails and you haven't sent them, then that account has been hacked, and a change of password is necessary.

Mrk

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Thanks So Much
May 11, 2011 11:34AM PDT

Whew! Relief! Hotmail account does not show these emails as sent from me. I'm even changing my ISP and all new passwords. I appreciate your patience with my limitations.

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Yes that's good
May 11, 2011 7:53PM PDT

It's possible that any hacker who might have had access to your Hotmail account would have deleted all his sent mails himself, just to confuse matters. but personally I think it is unlikely.

So yes, that is good news. And if you change the Hotmail password that is even better.

Of course it does mean that the spoofing of your email address may continue for a while, but there is little you can do about that.

Good luck.

Mark

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Answer
Or It's Possible It's Not YOU At All
May 9, 2011 1:49AM PDT

Many such spam addresses are spoofed.. Change the password as mentioned by Mark, then see if they continue. If the spam messages continue, then your address has been obtained by someone else and they're placing your address in the "From" line of the various messages they send.

Unfortunately, this problem appears to happen to you regularly.. See the link below regarding a similar problem with your mail about a year ago.

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6122_102-399413.html?messageId=3330934&tag=contentMain;contentBody#message3330934

I'll suggest that you start using a more complicated password for your various accounts. You might even cancel the Hotmail account you currently have and create a new one with a complex account name as well.. Capital letters AND smaller case letters AND various characters AND make at least 8 - 10 characters long.

Hope this helps.

Grif