I’ve no idea when or how this happened, my computer was not infected, somebody just accessed my GMAIL account and was trying to use it to send Spam via the vacation auto responder.
My 3 year old was watching videos on the computer while I was doing a few chores around the house. When I came back, my Gmail was in Chinese and I assumed that he somehow got into the settings and changed it. While I was looking for the language setting, I noticed that my signature and auto responder had this message in it and was turned on:
Hello
How are you doing recently?
I would like to introduce you a very good company which i knew. Their
website is www.cnamake.com They can offer
you all kinds of electronical products which you need,like Laptops
,GPS ,TV LCD,Cell Phones,PS3,MP3/4,Motorcycles etc……..
Please take some time to have a check ,there must be something you ‘d
like to purchase .
Hope you have a good mood in shopping from their company !
Best Regards!!!
Luckily, I caught it very soon after it happened and the only mails that went out from my account were only replying to things like sales offers from Gap. I immediately turned off the auto responder, deleted the message and then changed my password and security question. I also ran a spyware/malware check which came back clean. To be on the safe side, I also changed my password to other social networking sites and sites that have my financial information.
Ugh, I’ve still no idea how they got my password, it was supposedly a strong one and I don’t use my email password anywhere else.
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This needs to be tweeted and retweeted! Web-based email is not secure. Still, most of us use it b/c it’s so convenient. I think one important thing you can do on Gmail is to change the settings –> Browser connection to “always use https”
I’m sure there are other ways to make it more secure, looking forward to reading more comments.
vered | blogger for hire´s last blog ..I Suck At Personal Blogging
Hi Vered, that’s one of the reasons I posted this, I know some of my readers might have helpful hints. I’m far from an expert at internet security.
Thanks for the heads up! I wouldn’t know what to do if that happened. Now at least I have an idea.
Collette´s last blog ..Happy Holidays or Bah Humbug?
To be honest, if the settings for vacation autoresponder and signature weren’t on the same tab as changing the language back, I would have just assumed my kid changed the language…well, until people started asking me why the heck am I spamming for some Chinese electronics site.
Yikes – that sucks! Well, obviously aliens came down while you stepped away for a minute and they futzed with your email. They’ve been wanting to get inon the whole network marketing social media thing they keep hearing about. Stoopit aliens.
I bet after they found out I have 2000, TWO THOUSAND Twitter followers, many of whom work as SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS they knew they had to examine my files to see exactly how it’s done.
Thanks for the post. You’re lucky you discovered that had happened. I don’t know how long it would’ve taken me to figure it out, but now I know what to look for.
I am very grateful I happened to see it before something embarrassing happened, like spamming my kid’s school mailing list or something.
For what it’s worth, if I had gotten that message from you, I would have known it wasn’t you who sent it.
Alisa Bowman´s last blog ..Why I’m a winner!
Ooh, then you could have turned it into a post about how to tell a friend that her email was hacked! Without her having a hysterical breakdown and throwing things.
Or am I the only one who’d react like that? You probably shouldn’t tell me if I am because I will deny that it’s true and let you know that you’re just saying it because you’re jealous of me, then I’ll throw my seat cushion at you.
That is really odd – especially because you have a strong password. Or you have very clever children. I am always hoping to receive email that says “Hope you have a good mood in shopping from their company !” but, alas, I never do.
Kim Woodbridge´s last blog ..Unique Family Traditions
I really wish I knew how they got it. I’ll be honest and say although I’ve changed other passwords more often, I’d kept the same gmail password forever.
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