That Danny!
If your friends and contacts have received an email or IM message from your Hotmail account with wording along the lines of “I would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electronic products… etc” – it is highly likely that your Hotmail account has been compromised.
IF YOU ARE THE POOR SOUL THIS HAPPENED TO, THEN YOU SHOULD READ ON AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE.
In most cases when a spam email is sent in your name to someone else, the spammer doesn’t need access to your account. All they need to do is spoof your email address – i.e. make it look like it was sent from you. That’s very simple to do, and is very common.
However, the latest spate of spam from Hotmail accounts is different in that the attackers actually hack into your Hotmail account and then do some or all of the following things:
- They send a spam email to all your contacts.
- They may send a spam IM message to all your Messenger contacts
- They may delete all your Hotmail contacts
- They may set your autoresponse (the one you set when you go away) to send this spam message
- They may set your email signature to include the spam message
You know that they have hacked into the account because you can see clearly that they have sent an email from it to all your contacts, or even an instant message. They would not be able to do this if they did not have access to the account.
HOW IT HAPPENS
I don’t have a definitive answer, but I do have a theory which, based on the evidence, looks likely. If your password is a common name or a word that appears in a dictionary, then your account is vulnerable, even if it has a year of birth or number attached to it.
This is how the hackers do it:
- They employ an automated script that is fed your Hotmail address and then goes to work./li>
- It feeds the entire dictionary and common passwords and names into Hotmail one by one, trying to log in.
- After several attempts Hotmail “locks” the account and present a CAPTHCA (i.e. a string of wonky letters and numbers that are supposed to stop scripts from doing exactly that, because only a human can read these letters, supposedly).
- Unfortunately the CAPTCHA method no longer stops scripts, because hackers have found ways around them. One of those ways works by using sophisticated character recognition software that can read the wonky letters. Another is to feed the letters to “CAPTHCA farms” – the letters are fed to human users, employed by the hackers to read and enter CAPTCHAS, and they are often paid by the number of CAPTCHAs they enter (for example 1 cent per entry). This becomes viable financially if the spam is part of a bigger scam. The scale of the deception means it makes more money, especially because people are much more likely to trust spam messages sent by their friends. This achieves greater returns for the hackers and means they can attack many accounts, bypassing email security systems.
- Sometimes the scripts do their work over days, and sometimes weeks, to escape being caught by Hotmail’s attack detection systems.
There are of course other ways for hackers to achieve this kind of attack, such as spyware on your computer, or you being deceived by a rogue website. My instructions below would help you tackle these as well.
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY HOTMAIL ACCOUNT GOT HACKED?
Go through the following steps, one by one:
1. Before you do anything else, change your Hotmail account password to something very safe. Not a dictionary word or name, or even a word and numbers. Use symbols such as $ and & in your password, and make it long. I know it is difficult to remember, but if you don’t want to be hacked, you’ll have to start using strong passwords.
2. Now check that your autoresponse and email signature on Hotmail do not have any spam text added to them, as this would go out to your contacts automatically.
3. Then check that your computer does not have spyware or viruses, by following the instructions here.
4. From now on keep your passwords safe, and be extra careful when using public computers (such as those in Internet cafes). If in doubt – change your passwords.
5. You may want to alert Hotmail support to the problem. It seems to be happening all over the place, and the more they know about it, the better it is for their efforts to address it.
And please note: if for some strange foolish reason you decide to go to the site advertised by the spammers, and you are even more foolish and decide to buy something on it, don’t be surprised if it never arrives. This is a well known scam, and you will never get your goods, you muppet.
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I can see that i am not the only one that has had my hotmail account hacked into. The hacker also sent an email to all my contacts stating that i was in london and was mugged, please send $2400.00 so i can come back home. The hacker changed my password and secert answer to my security question so i cannot get into my account and hotmail will not help me. I even tried calling microsoft directly with no help. This happend June 10th and the hacker still has access to my account and i do not. I am so fusterated that i contacted all the local news stattions including “get jesse” (Jesse Jones) I hope one of the stattions contact me so that the public can be made a ware of this horrible situation. At this point i just want the hotmail account to be closed!
My hotmail account was hacked 6/10/10 – they changed my password and my security question so that I had no way to access the account or regain control of it. Then my contacts began receiving an email asking for $1800 because I was “stranded in london.”
Microsoft has a way to reset your password https://windowslivehelp.com/PasswordReset.aspx but having completed the form, it was hours before someone responded from msn. They told me they had suspended my account, but needed tons of additional info about my recent emails, contacts, etc to prove that I am the owner of the account. It’s been hours since I replied and no further word. They warn it can take 48 hours for them to determine if it’s really my account.
And microsoft’s explanation? Malware on my computer. Too bad that’s not possible – I own a MacBook, and run weekly security checks – my computer isn’t infected. And they didn’t guess my password – it’s a made up sequence of letters and digits – 12 characters long. This is a microsoft security breach, maybe even an inside job.
My recommendation – as soon as you regain control of your account, close it and open a gmail account. Much more secure.
Hey Vickie my account was hacked too! And it happened at almost the same time as you. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a microsoft security breach. I was lucky that my password didn’t get changed though. I did have about 10 emails go out to various people on my contact list – soooo embarassing! I’ve changed my password now and hopefully that takes care of the problem – if not byebye hotmail.
I keep getting the same “I am in London and mugged” email that Kelly above is saying. This sucks!
I have just been hacked into as well, the person sent an email to all my contacts that I have been stranded in California and to send $1000 so I can pay my hotel and airfare. They also changed my password as well as answer to my secret question. I can not get access to my account so that I can at least send a mass email to all my contacts informing them of the scam. I have gone to windowslive.com and filled out the security form too. Just waiting at this point.
They got me yesterday with some help from mr.I recieved an Email from windows live assking for sensetive info and if I did not comply,I would be terminated from my hotmail account.That set the hook.An Email from England indicated I was stranded and needed a soft loan of 1000 bucks should get me home.the look on my gals face when she read it was enough.Can’t do anything.screwed
I was hacked into as well but haven’t used the account in years. How do I close it down when I can’t log on? I can’t get hotmail to return emails.
I just got hacked into as well. My password is a random 12 character password with both letters and numerals. It is not possible for somebody to have guessed it. They must have gotten my password some other way.
My account was hacked last night. They changed everything and I have filled out the dumb form online and am waiting from hotmail to decide if i am the real owner of my account. This is a complete nightmare. The hacker sent to email about me being stranded in London to my work email and I responded asking how much do you need to see if they would write back and they did!!! They emailed me all morning about it and I asked them to tell me something so I would know that it is “Lindsey” and they havent responded. Seriously what has this damn world come to??? Who has time to sit down and hack peoples accounts??
Hi Vickie,
The same thing happened to me! They changed my password and security question. I filled out the form and it has been over 24 hours since I received an automated email from the “Live Support Team” from MSN. Did they fix your problem? How long did it take? Did they just reply to your form or did you have to keep posting things on that “Private Forum”, which is the dumbest thing ever! Please reassure me that it will get fixed! Thanks!
I guess I can add my problem to this pile. My e-mail was hacked about a week ago and all my incoming maile from May 1 to present disappeared! Even though I changed the password, I still cannot receive e-mails or access my contacts on Messenger. This is very frustrating as I have had the account for years and saved alot of important e-mails to the account. If somebody knows how to get the account back, please tell me!
I finally got an email back from MSN and was able to reset my password. It didn’t look like the hacker did anything to my account but send out the email to my contact list telling them I was stranded in England and needed money. I got everything I needed off that account and shut that hotmail email address down. What a pain! Good luck to all of you. Keep hounding MSN until they get back to you is my best advice.
im having the same situation here where the hacker is spamming all my hotmail contact promoting a site called ! its been 2 weeks and my friends are angry about that… >_<
i'd just try to reset my password and will see how it goes…
add me to the list of highjacked “mugged in the UK” scam targets. fuckers…
I recently got hacked and all my contacts received the in London been mugged email.
I sent a response to hotmail but they have not responded even though a case has been opened. I wish there was a way we can file a legal petition against the abuse
I just found out this morning that my hotmail account was hacked. They changed the password so I can’t log in, and sent the e-mail about my being stranded in the U.K. They also hacked my Facebook account, but it was much easier to reset my password. Facebook showed my last “activity” was at 6:02 a.m. from Nigeria. I live in Arkansas. At least I was able to post a note on Facebook for all my family and friends wondering whether I was really stuck in the U.K. I’ve started the process with Microsoft to reset my hotmail password, but the Web site says it could take 48 hours before someone will make a decision on whether I’m really who I say I am and let me reset my password. I’m a freelance writer and use that account for work, so it’s a major imposition to be without it for that long.
my hotmail has been hacked and my password is changed and my facebook was hacked too. what can i do?
My hotmail got hacked too — same story about being mugged in London. Sent to all my contacts. Also changed my password and security question so that I cannot access my account. I filled out a form on microsoft and hope that I will have my account back soon.
My emails were being sent to family and friends promoting viagra & other sick stuff!
What a mess, I can not understand how they can do this!
It’s really embarrassing : (
My hotmail account was hacked yesterday. First I knew about it when a friend told me they’d received an email from me with a single link to a .net site. I looked it up and it was from some people selling tablets, so I quickly changed my password, logged off and logged back in again and change my password again. Thought everything was ok until I tried again to log on in the morning. They’d managed to change my password and lock me out totally. SO, I can’t log back in – which is very worrying as I have lots of personal information in my account. This must be an inside job – I can’t understand how they can know my password twice – I ran spyware software on my machine and it was ok so I wish I knew the answer…
Anyway, I went to the windowslivehelp.com website to register the problem.
https://windowslivehelp.com/PasswordReset.aspx
They asked me the following info:
You have to give all informations about your problem and about your identity :
* Your e-mail (the “Windows Live ID”).
* Your first name ant full name.
* Your date of birth (month / day / year).
* Your country.
* The state, province or department in which you reside.
* Your zip code.
* The IP address of each computer used to access your account, or the most commonly used. To find your IP address, visit : http://www.monip.org.
* The answer to your secret question (if you don’t remember it, notify it).
* Emergency address email registered for this account (if no emergency address, notify it).
* Your Internet service provider (at work or at home).
* The date and approximate time of your last login.
* The information below:
o For Windows Live Hotmail user :
+ Examples of files names which you created in addition to those existing by defect
+ Examples of contacts contained in your address book.
+ Examples of old email titles contained in your inbox folders or messages.
o For Windows Live Messenger user :
+ Examples of contacts contained in your contact list.
+ The nickname under which you appear on Windows Live Messenger.
o For Xbox Live users :
+ The number of prepaid card for your Xbox (This information must match the email address you used to connect).
o For subscribers to paid services (Windows Live Hotmail Plus or Microsoft Office Live):
+ The last four digits of your payment.
+ The full name as it appears on the card.
+ The expiration date of your payment as it appears on your card.
This is all done in a private forum. I’m still waiting, not been 24 hours yet though – even though I do actually pay for hotmail to have the extra services!
Good luck to all of you out there and thanks for sharing your experience – will let my friends know to ignore any pleas for money from me..I created a gmail account now and it is so much better than hotmail…I’ll be saying bye to hotmail if I get my account back…
These people just need locking up…cause so much hassle for the rest of us…
Mine got hacked as well. Just sends random emails with a link to some pharmacy.
Just changed my password so will wait and see what happens.
also just got hacked 7/12/10, my password was not a word and included numbers and letters, so just letting you know they have other tricks than listed.
Well some of you may or not believe this. But 2 years ago, I went on to Hotmail to create an email account. Sounds simple enough you might think.
Well the email that I used was simply my friends name in full with hotmail.co.uk as the domain.
I created the account and then went to the hotmail inbox.
Much to my suprise there was lots of emails in the inbox and outbox with folders created the lot.
It was not long before I realised that I was in someone elses email account.
What microsofts so called amazing system had done is allow me to essentially take someone elses email address.
What it should have done is tell me that the email address is not available.
But it didnt.
It just allowed me to take someones account having my details and my password.
This is a joke.
I have not told anyone about this until now, including Microsoft, because I doubt they would believe me or admit it anyway.
My account was hacked yesterday – same London robbery scenario – same changed password and security question scenario – i am feeling very vunerable and not sure what can be done. I would like to report that Hotmail has a large security hole but not sure whom to report that to??? I did fill out a ID theft complaint on the Federal Trade Commission site and sent an email to spam@uce.gov but not sure if that will do any good. I tried to log into the Hotmail forum but i have not gotten any response from them…very, very frustrating
John T
My email account compromised this morning 15th July as 11.30+2hours which suggests somewhere east of France. Emails sent to all my list, just advertising cheap electrical goods – so far. No other messages yet. What do you do – if anything?
Kathryn, thank you for the suggestion to fill out an ID theft complaint with the FTC. I had not thought to do that. As I previously posted, my hotmail account was hacked–password and secret answer changed–as well as my Facebook account, on 7/6/10. I was able to get back into Facebook fairly easily, but it took a couple of tries and a couple of days to convince Microsoft to allow me to reset my password. They finally did, and when I got back into the account I found my entire contact list was wiped out, and several days’ worth of e-mail deleted. I opened a gmail account and transferred all the hotmail files over. In a couple of weeks I will sever the link and close the hotmail account. For those of you dealing with this, it is certainly scary and stressful, but there IS hope! I had about 10 years worth of info stored in hotmail, so I was very panicked. Now I’ll just have to be vigilant about checking my credit reports, bank accounts, etc., to make sure nothing weird turns up in the future. Hopefully all they wanted was my contacts, and I doubt any of them fell for it and sent money. By the way, Facebook told me the last activity on my account had been from Nigeria. Since I’m in Arkansas, the hacker is apparently in Nigeria. I don’t know if Microsoft knows or cares, though.
Serena McKay – how were you able to get back into your Hotmail account? I tried to join the Hotmail Forum on MSN but they never did reply to me…
Serena – I tried to join the Hotmail Forum on MSN but they never did reply to me… so I wonder how do you get access to your Hotmail account once they change the password and security question?
I got the same problem to month ago and it this morning again my hotmail account still sending message to all my contact . I will definetly close it or clean my addresse.
One thing i observed is that : for folks who’d set their hotmail accounts on their Ipod Touch it looks like the fact to use different
wireless spot with your ipod touch or other wireless devices such as Laptop,Mobile GSM smartphone …can make your account more vulnerable.So far i think what Messenger should probabily try to do is to investigate on Access Point , Wireless/LAN Router (china brand’s) which for me appeared to be less secure than other .
You can change your password as long as you want , but i am not sure
this will resolve the issue.Try to switch off all wireless connexion and just use cable connexion for a copple of day and see how it act .
I got hacked too, and I’m also in Arkansas! Starting June 22 until now on 3 or so days they sent out a link to all my contacts..it would only let them send it to so many people at a time. I had no idea, then I started getting a lot of postmaster delivery failure messages for the email addresses that aren’t valid anymore. Well I knew I hadn’t sent any mass emails so I didn’t open up any of them and figured the delivery failure emails were fake spam emails themselves. Then yesterday I receieved an autoresponse email from one of my contacts and realized what happened. I looked in my sent folder and it was empty so obviously I was hacked. I changed my password and sent out a mass email to everyone and said to disregard any weird emails from me. Today I deleted all my contacts and almost all my emails (I had important personal info in there too). Changed my password again. Now researching what to do. Do any of u access ur email through ur iPhone by any chance? Bc that’s the only way I check mine now and then this happened. Might not be a connection but I was just wondering!
Kathryn, just follow the instructions other posters have given. JezToll on July 9 describes the whole process. I got my first response from Microsoft in about 24 hours, although they say it can take up to 48. They initially denied me, but then I sent more info, including the IP off my laptop which I didn’t have initially, and 24 hours later they sent me a link to reset my password and security question–and it worked! Then I was in. I hope it works for you, too. Good luck!
Mine was doing the same as Renee’s, just a few at a time. Since I changed my paasword haven’t had any probs
My hotmail also got hacked July 14, the London mugging thing was sent to all contacts. MS let me set up a new password after waiting about 24 hours and filling out the “password stolen” form full of personal information (as if anyone wants to do this over the internet after they have just been hacked-why don’t they have a phone over at hotmail????) and literally within 40 minutes of doing so and in fact WHILE I was deleting emails from the hotmail account, the hackers apparently changed the password again. I might point out that the new password I had made up was totally complex with letters, numbers, and random capials etc so it is impossible someone could have figured it out that quickly unless they were literlly watching me type it in. So I could not shut the account down or finish deleting emails. I am really frustrated, but the most distubing part is the thought of them somehow getting more of my identity than just my name (bad enough) and email info. I guess I wil have to send another form to MS and wait again? Or should I just give up at this point? Called the FBI this AM, they told me to report to the state AG. I have no idea what recourse to take. At the very least, I am telling EVERYONE I know to get off hotmail ASAP It is obviously a totally flawed system.
My hotmail account got hijacked this morning (July 17th). The same way as all the previous postings. I received an e-mail earlier in the week from a windowslive representative requesting sensitive info, had a windowslive e-mail address. Also received another e-mail from someone in the U.K. asking for money which I deleted. A friend called me to tell me that she received an e-mail from my hotmail account where this hijacker is asking for money for an operation on a cousin from the U.K.
I contacted windowslive immediately and have no reply. My thread just says that my e-mail account was closed but no reply about resetting my password. I need to access my account to transfer my stuff to my gmail account.
All the other comments are very similiar in the method the account is hijacked. Hotmail is not secure at all. Could also be someone working with windowslive since that e-mail requesting sensitive info came from a windowslive e-mail address. Looked very legit.
Will wait for a reply from windowslive
Yep, I’ve got up this morning to find I was advertising cheap electrical goods to my contacts list at 2:20am…
Thankfully I stopped adding contacts to that list a long time ago, but it still reached the entire committee of an orchestra I play in and my manager. How embarrassing. Thank goodness it wasn’t porn!!
I’ve changed all my security details, deleted all the content (I have it downloaded to Thunderbird anyway) and sent an apology to everyone involved. If it happens again I’m closing the account.
If you are able to get back into your hotmail email accounts check your safe and blocked senders. Often you will find one or more email accounts added as safe but not by yourself, so remove them.
Also check everthing else including secondary email etc… Change everything if possible, including exporting contacts to another email account.
Also I have been on the net since 1994, and not once in the entire time has any company asked me to provide details via email.
Why?
Because they don’t do it!
Just because it seems its come from a legit email does not mean that it has.
SO in short NEVER reveal any information to anyone in anyway ever via email!
My hotmail account was just hacked and I believe they changed my password and secret word. I cant get in and there is absolutely NO SUPPORT. I am beyond frustrated. Also when you go to windowslivehelp.com it says they are having technical difficulties.
I feel helpless and think that the hackers are continuing to send out emails.
Any suggestions
I got email from hotmailliveteam.com stating that hotmail net team are going to check for the hotmail accounts. So that they can make sure that some of the people’s account are getting closed down due to insufficient fillings in the form. Now I can’t access to my account. Even the secret question has been changed. They send as
Name:
Country:
Birthdate:
Password:
To anyone who has received a message about Hotmail needing to confirm your account, here is your warning.
NEVER, EVER reply with legitimate information; this is a fraud and will result in your account being hacked along with many other important pieces of identity that you may have revealed in your replying message. Hotmail has already claimed that they will NEVER ask for your password or other private information through e-mail and any through e-mail can thus be deemed as frauds.
I plead you to listen and not to make the same mistake as many others who are not beyond frustration that their account has been hacked and cannot find ways to recover it. Please, read this if you have received that so-called alert and have not responded or have not decided on how to respond.
Foxtrot Twelve~
Note: There is also some MSN fraud where random people add you, claiming that they are new and wish to chat with you. It is confirmed since I have had multiple people send me the invitations that are complete replicas of each other; the message is the same, word for word. Do not fall for this.
Anjana – your grammar leads me to think you may be one of the hackers. How can we be sure, and able to trust your comments?
My hotmail account got hacked today. The same mugged in London deal. I reported to abuse@hotmail.com but have heard nothing yet. I guess I’m just going to stop using hotmail and go to something more secure.
Thanks Foxtrot Twelve fot that advice. I got the email, and binned it hoping it wasnt genuine. Also havent heard from Anjana again. His posting was timed at 3am, so its probably not light yet where he lives. If he wants to send an email address I will send him details on a course in English grammar. On second thoughts, that would enable him to improve his scam techniques. No, forget that
MSN messenger is to blame!!! all contacts go thru ur email address, msn MUST change this !!!! HACKED this AM, password and ALL !!! still nothing from MSN
My Hotmail account was hacked on 7/20/10. They then requested password resets with Facebook and my Gmail account, all of which got sent to the hijacked Hotmail. I posted on the private forum. They keep responded by saying that they can’t verify me.
Meanwhile, Gmail was reset and up again in less than a day.
Microsoft Live asks the stupidest questions. The hackers would be able to answer ‘email subjects’ and ‘contacts’ because they are logged in as me and can see them. They ask for a zip, but I’ve moved 5 times for work and school in the last 10 years. You would think that my IP would be enough, but instead, they continue to allow access to an IP originating in Nigeria.
I don’t know what to do. I tried calling on the phone, but they just told me to use the private forum.
my hotmail account was hacked four days ago trying to reset it but cant remember the security question,dont know what to do to get back to my account to retreived or transfer the information to anew account…what is going on with hotmail account everybody are getting hacked left to right,its a shame,can this be stop multiplying..
My hotmail acct. got hacked into around the middle of July and I think it was an inside MSN/hotmail job too. I’ve been trying to get help from them and they gave me a pin to use for the private forum, but where in the world on the page do you enter the pin and how do you even “ask a question” as that link doesn’t appear anywhere on the page. I think they deliberately do not want anyone to contact them for anything so they make it so difficult to contact that you give up.
My msn account was hacked on friday with the same story about being stranded in london. This is unbelieveably frustrating since microsoft has told me they can’t validate my ownership of that account. I’ve changed nothing on that account in years and don’t tell me they can’t see that someone else is sending out these annoying emails to everyone in my contact list. If suddenly something like this is happening when for over a decade its only been normal activity then obviously something is wrong.Why can’t they just change everything(password and secret question) back since its been the same way for over 10 years? I can’t believe i have to work so hard to prove who i am when the hackers obviously didn’t work that hard to change it in the first place. I am so disgusted!!!!!! I just want my contact list back and then i am closing this account for good……microsoft sucks…maybe its time for a mac too.
My daughter’s hotmail account was hacked a couple of days ago.
Emails saying that she was in Cyprus and urgently needed £1500 were sent to all her contacts.
So far she has experienced the response described above, from Hotmail.
Gmail is better you think?
Agreed. I’m a London mugging victim. 48 hours and running. The initial response from MSN was incoherent and completely irrelevant to the situation. It told me to allow the account to go inactive for a year and it will automatically deactivate. What joke. I am sooo glad I bought a mac and stopped feeding revenue to the crap company. They are a shinning example of how a company that outsources EVERYTHING just stops working.
hi me too i got hacked password and secret answer changed i have written several times to microsoft support i give them the information and proof that they want but i still ge the same answer i am not giving them enough information to let them know i am the owner of the account.They also did the same on facebook at the same time.Has anyone ever got there accounts back.I would love to know how.