My MSN email account has a virus and I canāt seem to get any help via MSN toĀ get rid of itā¦this is why I feel that I must close it. Do you haveĀ suggestions for how I might get help with the infection and keep my account orĀ should I do as you suggest and just stop using it?
I believe youāre heading off in the wrong direction.
Yes, if you want to close your account then absolutely stop using it.
But the question actually shows a very common misunderstanding of whatāsĀ probably really going on.
You see ā¦ email accounts donāt get viruses.
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Email & Viruses
Email accounts do not get infected with viruses. They may carry viruses asĀ payloads in email messages, but viruses to not affect the email accountĀ itself.
Viruses infect computers, not accounts.
I can hear a bunch of people immediately saying āwell, then MSN / Hotmail /Ā Windows Live has a virus on their computers!
No.
While itās theoretically possible, itās so incredibly rare compared to otherĀ possibilities that itās honestly not worthy wasting a moment even thinkingĀ about. Besides, if they did theyād be all over it and would resolve itĀ extremely rapidly.
So, then, whereās the virus?
There probably isnāt one.
Email & Hackers
Someone is sending email from your account, probably to email addresses thatĀ are in the contact list or address book of that account.
Thatās no virus. Thatās a hack.
Someone has gained access to your email account and is sending email fromĀ it.
Someone guessed your password, or stole it somehow to login to your emailĀ account. They may not even have changed the password, which means you could beĀ logging in normally while all this is happening unaware that thereās a problemĀ at all, until your friends start complaining.
It didnāt take virus to do this.
It just took lax password security like an easy-to-guess password, orĀ logging in to your email without using encryption at an open WiFi hotspot,Ā perhaps trusting someone you shouldnāt have, or ā¦
OK, thereās one scenario where malware could be involved: you could have aĀ key logger installed on your machine, or you used a machine (typically a publicĀ machine) that has a key logger installed.
Email āFromā You, but Not
I want to be clear that there are a couple of scenarios where email comesĀ āFromā you when itās not really from you:
- āFrom:ā Spoofing: The email address in the From field isĀ faked to look like it comes from you, but it has not. In fact you had nothingĀ at all to do with it. Unfortunately, since you had nothing to do with it,Ā thereās nothing you can do. Spammers have been using this technique forĀ years.
- Account Hack: As described above, someone has actuallyĀ gained access to your email account and is using it to send email. It looksĀ like itās from you because it really is from your account. Again, no virus,Ā just a simple case of an account being hacked into.
While as I said the first case has been going on for years, Iāve seen aĀ significant increase in the number of people whoās accounts are getting brokenĀ into.
What To Do
This is where it gets ugly.
If you still have access to the account, then rather than closing it youĀ should immediately change your password and every other bit of informationĀ stored as part of the account that could be used as account password recoveryĀ information by the hackers. You must assume that the hackers will have read allĀ of that and perhaps changed some of it and that they are prepared to perform anĀ account recovery to re-hack your account at any time. More on this here:Ā Is changing my password enough?
If you donāt have access to your account then your options are seriouslyĀ limited. For example, you need to have access to your account before you canĀ close it, so you canāt simply close it. Youād need to regain access, at whichĀ point you should do what I just suggested: change all the information inĀ it.
Regaining access to the account is often difficult to impossible. TheĀ section on āLosing and Regaining Account Accessā inĀ What are my Lost Hotmail Account and Password RecoveryĀ Options? details what options you have.
If you canāt regain access to your account, then I suggest you simply moveĀ on:
- Create a new account
- Use a strong password
- Tell all your friends, business relationships and newsletter subscriptionsĀ your new email address
- Think carefully about how your account could have been hacked, so that youĀ donāt let it happen again.
And, sure, an up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware scan of your ownĀ machine(s) wouldnāt hurt.
In fact, refreshing yourself onĀ how to stay safe on the internet might be a good idea asĀ well.
Leo:
I use MSN Hotmail for my main email account (the one I used in this comment)I have found that over the past several months the Hot Mail system has become very slow and non responsive. I have complained to them and they have denied any problem but the system miraculously speeds up for a short time after each complaint, only to slow down again a few days later. I have recently downloaded Internet Explorer 9 Beta and I now find that the editing function in Hot Mail is messed up. Back spacing to correct a typo when composing an email causes the display to become unreadable until the correction is completed. Microsoft needs to get their act together fast, Yahoo, Google and AOl are all doing a much better job on handling web based email. thnaks for listening and for all the great advice.
Ed Lieber
Hi Ed,
Do you still have the box your computer came in? ā¦
Just kidding.
What do you expect? A Beta is a Beta. It is not meant for anything but test purposes. You should not even run it on your main computer unless it is in a VM. No problems you have can be blamed on Microsot. Did you read the EULA and release notes?
There are many warnings to that effect.
Read all Eulaās and notes, ALWAYS on all software.
That goes for you people that download some file and end up with a bunch of crappy BHOās and high-jacked home pages, etc. YOU allowed these things to happen by not paying attention.
Great response. I would like to add that the user should run a full virus scan of their computer using more then one security client to ensure that their own computer has not become a bot or is hacked. While the e-mail account may be the only account hacked your computer may also be infected and that is how they got your password in the first place.
As well as running a full virus check and also ensuring the firewall is working, I suggest that a security check such as āShieldsUP!ā should be included.
Additionally, I run the ancient CHKLINKS daily whilst having breakfast. Although less necessary on later, faster computers, it can be helpful in ensuring that Broken Links are not accumulating.
Reboot your ADSL/Broadband Router occasionally, say once a month.
Take a good look at old emails accumulating in your account or on your PC. Get rid of the majority.
Always run down and switch off āgracefullyā ā be patient and keep your fingers away from the On/Off Switch.
In other words, there are several āhousekeepingā tasks that the individual PC User can and should carry out, to keep the PC running smoothly and quickly.
The individual PC User now has to undertake many of the āhousekeepingā tasks that were carried out by the Computing Department, back in the good old days of main frames etc.
Alex Dow
I would like to add a WARNING on here to this. 4 of us in the household use hotmail, or windows live. My mom gets an email that says windows live is having problems with spammers and fake accounts, and wants her to fill in her name, username, password and reply back via email. It ALMOST looks legit, until you hit reply. Suddenly it is redirected to a {removed by moderator}@hotmail.com. There is no way to report this to msn, hotmail, or windows live, so all I can do is spread the word-WATCH OUT. The other 3 of us did not get this same email-so we knew it was a hoax right away
Darrel Riffle
The giveaway should have been āpasswordā. What on earth does anyone but you need your password for? THINK! What do you need your password for? To log into your account. If you want any one else to log into your account, give āem your password. Otherwise, never, never never give out your password.
Iām an administrator on several web site forums and Iāve always found it ironic that computer users donāt do any homework until after the fact (problem). Typical problem: āMy computer has been clicking for about 2 months and now it wonāt bootā
Proactive trumps reactive every time. At least, do a little research! You would have found out that Hotmail is the most hacked e-mail service (and for that fact makes a great disposable e-mail address).
Change your profile info every month or two with Hotmail and Yahoo mail. G-mail, not so often. Maybe every 3-4 months.
I was filling out for something on the computer and when I started to put my email address a completly different email came up for some one I didnāt know. What does this mean and what should I do?
@Dorleen
Most browsers have an autocomplete feature that āguessesā what you want by giving a dropdown list of all of the email addresses youāve previously typed in an email field that begin with those letters youāve typed. If there is only one option on that list it may insert it directly in that field. In that case just keep typing and the options will disappear. This not only works for email addresses but many other fields, such as name, address etc.
Read the comments concerning mail account having a virus and I realize that email accounts do not get a virus but a computer does. My problem is a little different, no one has hacked into my email and sent things to my addresses. What has happened is that in my āInboxā mail, sent mail, stored messages and some subfolders, all messages have been duplicated at least 2 times. Some messages have replicated 3 times. I have Windows XP on this computer, I donāt know what to do. I have deleted 200 emails from a total of 500 only weeks later to find they are back and replicated yet again to total 500 (just an example #). If anyone can help, I would appreciate itā¦. :)
Hi i having problems people sending my emails i must stop sending rubbish, but i dont know what they talking about because in the first place i neva sending them any messages whatsoever. What is the problem and how can i solve this problem
@Christina
This article gives some advice on what to do when that happens.
Someoneās sending email that looks like itās from me to my contacts, what can I do?
Hi, this has been going on for about two weeks actually, i can still log on my windows live Account but when i do i cant send any instant messages to anybody but i can recieve theirs. i cant even send emails to them they will never recieve them. they are also able to log in my msn while im logged in and it wont log me out. Ive tried resetting the password and change the security password. I dont know what to do, please help, what should i do? I dont want to close my account.
this annoying pedant could have answered the question in 3 bloody sentences and he knows it: āThe email address in the From field is faked to look like it comes from you, but it has not. In fact you had nothing at all to do with it. Unfortunately, since you had nothing to do with it, thereās nothing you can do. Spammers have been using this technique for years.ā
that was what the person was after
My gmail account is having multiple problems. My emails are combining, for example a business email combines the To and Subject lines with a non-business correspondence. I am not getting some emails and other emails are being sent to my trash folder. It doesnāt matter if I access my email from by laptop or my I phone. I read email doesnāt get viruses, so what is going on?
Thanks!
It may be that emails are being tagged for the wrong folders. This article may help you: https://askleo.com/how-do-gmail-labels-relate-to-folders/
Leo, my friend sent me a email with no attachments and when I opened it, nothing on my chrome would load. It says the pages I opened are not responding. Help?
Iād start you here: https://askleo.com/how_do_i_remove_malware/
(Iāll bet it wasnāt really your friend that sent it.)
Hi Leo ā somehow a virus or something has changed my email address. When I send an email, the words āNigeria National Freelottoā are included in my email address. Everyone erases my email right away before reading it because of this. For example, if I sent you an email it would be from āNigeria National Freelotto {removed}@sbcglobal.net. Do you have any idea how to get rid of this? I have had this address for a very long time and would like to keep it if possible. I also have a second address that is attached to the same account. ā{removed}@yahoo.com. Both addressās work and access the same email account. I like the first one because it is easy for people to remember. Thanks!
You shouldnāt post personal information like email addresses or phone numbers in public forums. It can make your address a spam magnet.
https://askleo.com/why_shouldnt_i_post_my_email_address_in_a_public_forum/
As for your question, it would be necessary to know how you send email, whether through an email program or a web interface. In general, you should be able to go in and change the sender information in your email program or web interface. If it is through an email program, this would be a sign of malware and you should scan your computer for malware.
https://askleo.com/how_do_i_remove_malware/
If you send through a web interface, it means that your account was hacked and this article applies:
https://askleo.com/email_hacked_7_things_you_need_to_do_now/
when i close out one email it closes out everything i feel i have something missing
I recieve emails from work with files as attachments.When I receive an email with a PDF attachment. I download the attachment but it opens as a poster for a visa assistance company in the Philippines that I recently used. Any ideas?.
Sounds like malware on your machine.
Okay, all those rules are also applied for all kind accounts, right? Such as social media account or blog account?
Let say, someone unintentionally uploaded image to a blog from their computer with virus in it (or the computer already has the virus). So the virus absolutely canāt infect the blog account/blog page itself?
Thank you
The account or page is not infected. However malicious software ā be it an image that exploits an unpatched vulnerability or anything else ā has the potential to infect machines that visit that page. āMalvertisingā is a good example ā malicious ads were uploaded and when displayed could cause some of the machines on which they were displayed to become infected. Technically neither the site nor the advertising network itself was āinfectedā, but they served as delivery vehicles for malware. Fortunately this is extremely rare.
What about synchronized/synchronizing account? For example, does malware/virus keep coming back if we synchronize our email account with browser (Google Chrome)?
I think Iāve ever read your article about malware that kept coming back to Google Chrome browser, user already removed it yet malware kept coming back.
From one of your answers/suggestions: āPerhaps you have synchronized your Google Chrome browser with your Google Chrome account, that what makes the malware keeps coming back.ā
(I tried to google this article, Iām really sorry that couldnāt find it to put the link here.)
Thank you
Syncronizing your account simply means that an malicious extension (for example) that is installed on one machine in Chrome will automatically be replicated to your other Chrome installations. Your ACCOUNT is NOT infected, but the feature of syncronized account means that the malware is automatically replicated from YOUR machine to your other machines. You might remove it from one, but it comes back when sync happens from one of your other machines. The only solution is to temporarily disconnect ALL machines from that syncronization, disinfect ALL machines, and then carefully re-enable sync one by one.
Hi! I feel VERY stupid. Just last night I opened an email on my computer from a person that I kind of know. I thought this was something important but in the body it said Error. and told me that if I wish to open it to click here. That is what I did. (I know that everyone now is cringing). This was something that caught me off guard. There were all kind of things that popped up on the computer that seemed bogus.
The computer is fine now. But my LG smart Phone canāt receive the emails that I am getting in on my account. This is a feature that I depend on for my smartphone. What should I do?
Hi..good day..
My official domain return some mail, from my mail id, How to stopā¦
For example,
My id ā {email address removed} , its return some mail from this email to my email id, means From and To address are same, How we can stop and what is this.
please advice me.
Iād have to see the specific error message, but if itās not email you actually sent, then itās likely just spam.
Leo, my problem is this: I get no e-mail period. I open and closed 3 or 4 accounts, change my password, and still I get no e-mail. I do get greeting from the account I open thatās it. I have tried to sign up at different sites for e-mail, but noting comes in. I tried it with your site. The accounts that I open with have said I have a problem, and thatās it. They donāt tell me what it wrong or how to correct it. Can you help. New to all this computer thing. Note: On my e-mail, I donāt any thing , so I am putting my sister e-mail.
No one will be able to answer your question unless we know what kind of email account you are opening. My guess is that the email accounts are probably fine, but that you are trying to download mail to your computer, and thatās where you are going wrong. The big question is, what type of email accounts you are setting up. If they are online accounts like Gmail, you can test them online to see if they work.
leo, Iām having problems with my computer, when i go to my aol account I canāt open my mail, I have a mac. I am not very smart whe it comes to cumputers, I think I have a virus as my computer crashes quite often. What do I do? Also I donāt know why Iām asking you because I canāt open my emails?
I realized about 6 weeks ago that we are having email issues at work. I was trying to send a contract to two clients that I had been going back and forth with all week (they have also been clients since 1994 who have always used email with us) March 24 things were all good and they were responding to me, as of March 28 I realized I wasnāt getting the emails that they were saying that they responded to. I contacted our IT company and they said they āreleasedā something ( I am guessing our IP address?) and I got literally 70 emails from the past 10 days that were sent to me and sitting in lala land? At this same time our Marketing company had started using Zoho campaigns to send out a newsletter from our company using my email address, they never set up the SPF record prior to doing so. Over the last 6 weeks Iāve been noticing the weirdest things with our email ā I can email some people and they get it no problem, but when they try to respond to me it wont let them or I never receive it back. And then there are some people who can email me and I get it, but it will not allow me to send anything back to them. It bounces back and says [P4] Message blocked due to spam content in the message. Your message wasnāt delivered due to a permission or security issue.
This message when I am sending ātestingā as the subject and only thing in the body says āhey its Katieā
I have checked every black list, canāt find us on it. I have even called centurylink and Comcast (two of the ones we are having issues with, so far 9 different companies that I know of so far) and they are saying that they donāt see anything wrong at all on their end, my clients were on the phone with us while they looked into this. They are saying its on our side.
Well IT on our side is getting pissy with me saying it absolutely is not on our side ā but I have to think it is. 9 different email users having issues with us who we were fine with prior to March 28? whatās the common denominator here?! ME/US! lol I havenāt noticed any emails being sent from me, but another guy in the company did notice some and sent out a warning to all of us.
I am not the only when in the office having these issues either, March 24 we were fine and as of March 29 when accounting sent out an invoice to a customer (who hasnāt been late in 7 years on a payment till now) never received it. we sent it 4 more times over the next month to no avail, but I am getting his emails.
So I am thinking we have some type of malware in our system at the office? Would that make sense to you? Honestly at
On April 24, 2018, my email account was āhackedā. It sent out spam emails to those who had previously sent me emails. The spam emails were āreplyingā to the past emails that I received (sometimes seven years ago). The hack was very sophisticated. The content of the spam ārepliesā had my contact info at the bottom of the email and usual disclaimer I have in emails. The spam ārepliesā looked very legitimate. Additionally, the spam ārepliesā included an attachment which others have told me contains a virus. After people told me about the spam, I changed my password on the email account. This seems to have stopped the spam (at least for now, I hope). Interestingly, my āsentā folder did not include any of the spam emails. As a final matter, I do not use a āfreeā email account, such as gmail, yahoo, etc. The email that was hacked is from a paid email/domain name company that Iāve used for ten years. Moreover, I did several virus scans of my computer ā no viruses were detected.
Can someone let me know what happened? Could the service that provides me the email account have been hacked?
Honestly thereās no way to know how this happened. It could be malware, but more likely your password was simply discovered or guessed. Particularly if you also used that password elsewhere, thatās the most common cause.
What kind of attachment are you trying to send? For example, Gmail wonāt send executable (program) files. To send those, you put them in a Dropbox or OneDrive folder and send a download link.