Chicken bald back

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I got an email from myself this morning which I know I didn't send . I obviously didn't open the link but I'm curious as to how this might have happened and wondering if I need to do anything about it (ie has my email account been hacked?).

 

I googled it and only a couple of hits came up but I didn't want to click on them, just in case. Any ideas? Anyone had anything similar and know what I should do?

 

The email just contained this link:

 

http://www.jaok.sakura.ne.jp/92p4ad.php

[merlina]

Your account has either been spoofed or hacked.

 

Spoofed is most likely - it's where the email is just sent out 'from' your email address, but no-one has actually accessed your account.

Most accounts that are simple addresses - eg fred44@hotmail.com and have been around a long time get spoofed occasionally.

 

If, however, the email has been sent to people in your contacts book, your account has been hacked. Change the password immediately to something like !letterS9876& -ie something long and complicated (that you can remember!)

Change any other accounts that use the same password.

Usually this happens to accounts in batches - eg my yahoo account got hacked along with hundreds of others last year.

[Egluntyne]

We've had similar recently. The link was to a weight loss clinic. My 7 1/2 stone daughter was flabbergasted! I changed my password and notified those on my address list that mattered.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Ah, thanks! No-one has mentioned receiving anything odd from me so hopefully it's just a spoof. It is a simple address and has been on the go for years.

[merlina]

If you're anything like me you'll have a zillion redundant email addresses in your contacts book.

I knew I'd been hacked when my inbox filled with 'bounce' messages from these old/dead email addresses.

 

The email addresses I've had a long time get spoofed pretty much once every year and it's annoying but nothing to worry about

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's reassuring, thanks .