Hacked Hotmail

[SirDeadly]

For about a week now my hotmail has been hacked by someone from Spain (according to Google translate). I am only aware of this because I keep getting emails from the post master that an email I have sent has failed to be delivered.

Earlier my account was blocked because of the spam being sent. Once I got back on I changed my password and thought that would be the end of it but unfortunately it wasn't...

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to prevent this?

The message in Spanish is this:
Queridos amigos:
Por favor, perdona a perturbar su valioso tiempo.Se trata de una empresa de electrónica.
El comercio internacional de China, el mayor de los mayoristas.
Que venden principalmente productos eléctricos tales como ordenadores portátiles, televisores LCD, cámaras, teléfonos móviles.Y así sucesivamente.Ofrecemos un descuento enorme, y 100 días antes de la promoción.
Ofrecemos alta calidad y precios competitivos, todos los productos cumplen con la garantía internacional.
Si tiene tiempo, por favor visite nuestro sitio web:

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I use this email address for just about everything.

 

[DoPo]

It could be spam, but just to be completely sure, use a different machine to change your password. Also, run a scan for keyloggers as well as general malware. I think Malwarebytes handles those, but you can also try Spybot Search&Destroy. Or even best to try both. They are free and it would only take you some time for the scan.

Actually, when I use Google translate on that email you posted

Spoiler: Google transtate-d version

Dear Friends,
Please forgive us to disturb your precious tiempo.Se is an electronics company.
International trade in China, the largest wholesalers.
That mainly sell electrical products such as laptops, LCD TVs, cameras, phones and sucesivamente.Ofrecemos móviles.Y a huge discount, and 100 days before the promotion.
We offer high quality and competitive prices, all products comply with international warranty.
If you have time, please visit our website:[/quote]

That definitely sounds as spam.

 

[SirDeadly]

It could be spam, but just to be completely sure, use a different machine to change your password. Also, run a scan for keyloggers as well as general malware. I think Malwarebytes handles those, but you can also try Spybot Search&Destroy. Or even best to try both. They are free and it would only take you some time for the scan.

Actually, when I use Google translate on that email you posted

Spoiler: Google transtate-d version

Dear Friends,
Please forgive us to disturb your precious tiempo.Se is an electronics company.
International trade in China, the largest wholesalers.
That mainly sell electrical products such as laptops, LCD TVs, cameras, phones and sucesivamente.Ofrecemos móviles.Y a huge discount, and 100 days before the promotion.
We offer high quality and competitive prices, all products comply with international warranty.
If you have time, please visit our website:

Spoiler: Google transtate-d version

That definitely sounds as spam.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply. I'm running Super Anti Spyware now to see if that picks up anything.

 

[DoPo]

Make sure not to use Chrome or Firefox as your browser, Internet Explorer is well known for it's security holes.

Did you mean to put that "not" there? I'd personally suggest that he uses one of them.

 

[McMullen]

Make sure not to use Chrome or Firefox as your browser, Internet Explorer is well known for it's security holes.

Did you mean to put that "not" there? I'd personally suggest that he uses one of them.

Yeah my bad lol.

That raised my eyebrows as well. Might want to edit that out of your post in fact.

My hotmail got hacked once as well. Sent pharmaceutical spam to all my contacts. Very annoying. Now I mostly use hotmail as an email address for places that ask me for my email address, so it serves as a decoy for all the spam, gmail for slightly more important stuff, and a different email service for personal, business, and sensitive communication.

It does sound like your computer is compromised. Clean it out, and do not use Internet Explorer. They say every time that "Oh we've fixed all the security problems, we're not unsafe anymore!", and that may be true for a while, but after enough time has passed, it'll start letting the nasty stuff through. Firefox or Chrome tend to be safer, and I recommend getting add-ons that allow you to enable/disable scripts on the fly.

What they said about Malwarebytes. I would use an additional program like Avast or something as well, but you'll find no consensus on any choice of software except Malwarebytes. Perhaps not even that.

Be aware that many malware attacks these days come from infected website ads, and this can happen even on sites that you trust. There is a way with Firefox, and probably chrome, to protect against those but some rather shortsightedly constructed rules for these forums would mean a warning for me if I were to tell you what they are. You'll have to research that yourself. I expect they might give me a warning just for what I've said here, unless they remember that the Escapist's own articles have often criticized other companies for prioritizing their financial interests over the security of their users.

Good luck.

 

[SirDeadly]

Thanks for the help guys. I've run Avast, CCleaner, Super Anti Spyware and Spybot Search & Destory. That seems to have worked for now.