What To Do If You Feel That Your Email Has Been HIjacked Or Hacked

These are the symptoms of a possible compromised email address include:

• Complaints about spam being sent from your email address (to persons within your address book or to strangers).
• You are not receiving any email.
• You appear to be missing email.
• You are receiving large numbers of undeliverable or bounce messages you did not send.
• You are not able to login to your email account.
• Unknown email appearing in Sent Items folder.

Generally these are the things that your ISP would ask you to do: 

1. Secure all of your computers against malicious keylogging software that can steal passwords and other personal information.

• Scan all computers with an up-to-date anti-virus program. The AT&T Internet Security Suite powered by McAfee is free to qualifying members and includes anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall protection.
• Use an up-to-date anti-spyware (anti-malware) application, as some malware is not detected by anti-virus scans.
• Ensure your operating system has been updated with all the recommended security updates from the operating system provider.

2. Change or reset your password to one not used previously. By changing your password immediately, you can minimize the resulting risk for your AT&T account. You may want to change it immediately to secure your account and again once you verify all computers on your network are free of malware and all Mail Options are valid.

3. Verify Mail Options and make corrections in the event they have been tampered with. (The steps below are applicable to AT&T and yahoo users.

• Access http://www.att.net and click on the Mail button located on the right of the screen and login.
• Access the Mail Options or More Options link in Webmail.
• Verify Your Signature - Check for changes or unknown content within the signature, and update as appropriate.
• Spam Settings - Verify that your own email address is not listed in the Blocked Email Addresses list. If it is, remove it and click Save Changes.
• Filter - Check filters for unknown filters or filters that direct mail to the trash, and update as appropriate.
• Accounts - Check for any unknown listed accounts. Verify the From Name and Reply-to address. If unknown or incorrect, change the From Name and remove the Reply-to address.
• POP & Forwarding - Check and verify a forwarding address, and update as appropriate.
• Vacation Response - Make sure that the vacation response is disabled, unless this is desirable.
• Contacts - Check you address book. Are all your contacts there or any new added or changed?
• Account Information Tab - Log in required. Verify your personal information is correct.

4. Establish or update your Account Security Question and Answer at https://uversecentral.att.com/uvp/myhome.

1. Log in with you user ID and password.
2. On the Main Tab, click on Profile Management.
3. Enter your current password.
4. In the Security Information section, click on Create or Edit Security Information.

Other Considerations

Notify Contacts - Use an alternate email address or another form of contact to warn your contacts not to open anything from your compromised email address. Recommend that they use updated firewall and anti-virus protection and keep all security patches updated. They should also run an anti-virus scan.

Create a New Email Address - If you don't mind losing your email address, it's best to start fresh and create a new one. You can go here to create new AT&T sub accounts.

Keep Records - Your email address is linked to many of your online activities. If your ID is compromised, you don't want the bad guys asking your bank to send a new user name and password to that email account. Keep track of every activity tied to your email account, and if the account is compromised, immediately notify your bank, Credit Card Company and any other related accounts.

Put Online Purchases on Hold - You'll want to make sure your computer is virus-free before you start entering credit card numbers for online purchases. Some malicious software enables criminals to track every key stroke a computer makes.

Additional Security Measures

Wireless Settings - If you utilize a wireless-capable connection device, please ensure that the wireless connectivity is disabled if it is not being used or that security is enabled for the wireless connection. If security is not enabled, anyone within range of the device can use the connection and you as the account holder will be held responsible for any activity originating from your connection.

Browser Updates - Web browsers are constantly updated to improve functionality and security. Keeping your browser updated to the latest version is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect yourself. To check the version you are currently using, look to your browser toolbar at the top and locate (usually under Help) where it says About, and then the name of your browser. This will tell you what version you have. Then check this list to see if you have the latest supported version for your operating system (OS).

Learn More - Education is an important key to keeping yourself safe and secure online. Several resources are available online, such as OnGuardOnline.gov, a federal government website dedicated to helping you be safe, secure, and responsible online.

source: www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB409170#fbid=EcDeiYK0f92