Gail P. Eddy, Nederland. This past week, we received hacked email messages “from” several different customers indicating that their email account has become compromised. I have “from” in quotes because the emails were not actually from those people.

Each email was similar. They all started with a benign and short message saying, “Checking in” or “Favor to ask!” or “Hey there?”. All the messages were received very recently. This indicates an active and fruitful attack is going on right now.

Chris replied with a quick email that said, “Yes, I will call you later today”. A few minutes later, we received another message asking us to pick up an Apple gift card for his niece.

We noticed that the “reply from” address was slightly different from his actual email address. (An “R” was added to the end of his name.) 

Chris called the customer who said he had not sent either of the messages. We have known this person for many years and have served him many times. He was a referral from his daughter, a Mountain Local and friend. They talked for a while, and Chris recommended that he turn off his computer, and wait until he arrived later that day. 

Chris looked through his account configuration within MSN and found that a Rule had been added. It was applied to every new email message so they would never be seen.

Chris found that all the customer’s recent email was in the Archive folder and he moved them back to the Inbox. Then he deleted the Rule added by the Hijacker.

What to  look for in your email inbox: 

If you get an email like this, it’s important to let the person know, WITHOUT using the email address that was used to send the original message! The best option is to call or text them. If you don’t have their phone number, see if you have another email for them. You can also contact a family member and ask them to pass on the message. I’ve even resorted to sending the person a message on Facebook.

What to do if you’re dealing with a hacked email account:

If you find out that your email has been compromised there are several things you should do right away:

* Change your password.

* Double-check that your “reply to” address is really your address. Look for an extra letter. Is the domain correct? (Comcast? Gmail? Outlook? etc.)

* Check your email account “Rules” to see if any new emails are forwarded to a different address.

* Let people know your email is compromised. Make sure they know you’re fine and don’t need a gift card for Amazon or Apple. If you send one email to a bunch of people, please use BCC.

Conclusion:

Scammers and hackers are getting more sophisticated in their attacks. Today is a great day to run your virus scanner, change passwords, set up two-factor authorization, and back up your data!

As always, if you need help, give us a call. In many cases, we can help you remotely.

For the complete article, please head over to www.GeekForHireInc.com/hacked-email.

Information about Geek For Hire

Chris Eddy of Geek For Hire, Inc. has provided computer service to families and small businesses with Mac’s and PCs for the past nineteen years. Angie’s List and the BBB rate Geek For Hire very highly.  

Gail Eddy writes most of these articles. She’s the manager of Geek For Hire and is who you’ll likely talk to when you call for an appointment.

Our Covid Policy can be found here: https://geekforhireinc.com/covid19-policy. Geek For Hire, Inc. provides onsite service (Tier 3 support) to the Denver / Boulder / Front Range area and remote service throughout North America.

You can find more on our website or give us a call at 303-618-0154. 

(Originally published in the April 22, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)