highjacked computer

[foodfisher]

My son in law's computer has been jacked and now all his contacts, including me, are receiving annoying and some disturbing spam. Is there a way to stop and maybe catch the highjacker?

 

[Summer Fun]

Re: highjacked computer

Give Malwarebytes a try its free.

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

 

[RandyJ]

Re: highjacked computer

I WISH! It's a mailing list stealer virus. Girlfriend has the same problem. I get emails from her when we're gone fishing... so I know they're not from her. Nearly all have a link to something and I'm just not stupid enough to click on the link. Since I already know she is not the one sending the emails I just don't open them unless I know she is sending. Too, it only happens when she is using her laptop. When she turns it off for a few days they quit coming. I've read that most spam only lasts for 24 hours or less. But I've got a junk email address that it just keeps on coming. For this reason, when I advertise on craigslist I use a junk email account for my membership address and for any email replies. Also, I no longer ask for email replies... I give my phone number in alpha numeric wording that is easily readable but gibberish to computers and too difficult for foreign spamers.

 

[Fed]

Re: highjacked computer

I think I'm on your son in law's contact list I started getting a lot of spam email 3 days ago.
One good trick is to put a fake email address in your contact list & if your computer gets compromised and starts sending email you will get an undeliverable notice returned when the mail can't be delivered.

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: highjacked computer

A lot of times it is not a virus on the computer. Someone could have hacked the email Web access password. Have him change the password on all email accounts online and see if the spam stops.

 

[jlinder]

Re: highjacked computer

Change passwords, run spybot and malwarebytes, make sure you have virus protection, and for everything make sure you are running the latest update for the malware and virus patterns.

Try getting an account at spamgourmet.com. It lets you give out an email address that will forward a certain number of emails and then it eats the rest.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: highjacked computer

Something most people never do is unplug your computer when your not using it.

 

[Cofe]

Re: highjacked computer

My mother in law's computer did the same thing awhile back. Her hotmail account had been hacked and the obnoxious emails were pouring out of her account. Had her delete the email account and open a new one with a good password.

 

[Augoose]

Re: highjacked computer

These steps will not really tell you WHO is sending the messages, but you can see from where they are being sent which is still kind of cool....

First you need to view the "Email header". The steps to view the header varies depending on the program you use to view your emails, but a google search to find your particular steps is easy. I'll use Outlook as an example.

First, navigate to the spam email you received but don't open it yet. Click one time on the message so it's highlighted in blue. Right click on the message then select "message options". At the bottom of this window is something called "Internet headers". Select/copy all of this text and paste it into Word or another document so you can see the whole thing.

Once it's pasted into word, scroll to the bottom of the document. Once at the bottom, start scrolling up while looking for a IP (internet protocol) address, which will be a series of numbers which looks like this 183.213.109.213. An IP address is a specific numeric assignment for a component that accesses the internet/network. Your computer has an IP address right now which is assigned to it by your ISP (internet service provided). Don't bother remembering it because likely you don't have a static ip, meaning your IP addresses changes about every 24 hours or so. The trick is finding the correct SOURCE IP address and not just the IP address of a router which forwarded on the email. Look for something in the header stating "Received from" as a hint. keep going up the word document and look for the first IP address you see and try searching it using a IP address lookup tool such as www.whatismyip.com.


Once you find the spammer's IP address, in a separate window go to http://www.whatismyip.com/tools/ip-address-lookup.asp .
this will allow you to lookup an IP address and it will display on a map where that IP is assigned to. Even though you're only going to get a city, its still kind of cool to see where your spam is coming from. India, Russia and Italy are very common sources.

I'd be lying if I said I've never spammed them back, along with a little hint that I know approximately where they are. I don't recommend doing this however!

Lastly, in an attempt to stop emails from the spammer, you can block his/her email address directly in your email program or you can block the entire domain if you're confident that you won't be missing other emails coming from the same domain. A domain is another word for describing the website that is the source of your emails. For example, lets say you use myname@hotmail.com. Hotmail.com is your domain. If you are getting spam from a specific domain, like spammer@goofball.com, just block all emails coming from any goofball.com domain completely.

Good luck and DEATH TO ALL SPAMMERS!!!!!!

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: highjacked computer

All I can say is someone out there thinks I need ***** enlargement.

 

[jlinder]

Re: highjacked computer

Another thing to watch out for. If you have friends who love to send out their latest "oh, you've got to read this" emails all the time. Note that when they send it out you can see the email addresses of everyone they sent it to.

Then they or someone on the address list gets hacked and every address on the email is added to the spammers list.

Even worse is the friend or relative that loves to send you that funny e-card or joke. They do this by going to some junk site and giving them your email address so they can send you this funny message. Now your address is added to yet another spammers list.

I keep telling these friends/relatives not to do it, but there is always one hard head who doesn't listen. I had to threaten one relative that if they ever did it again I would reciprocate and they would soon find their inbox filled with nothing but junk - and of the worst kind.

Think of what the business model must be for these sites that send you stuff for free. Give them your information and you are not the consumer, you are the product.