What To Do When You Think Your Email Account May Have Been Hacked..

Almost all of us have received an email at one time or another, that we’ve questioned and know are not “legit” – You know the ones that come in from co-workers, friends or family stressing it’s an emergency and they need our help, they are stuck in Europe and lost all their money-please send some immediately ~ or ~ maybe it’s an ad for some “enhancing drugs” ~ or ~  it has a website/hyperlink that will take us to a website that might not be of any interest to us or anyone we know for that matter..

If and when your account has been compromised--or hacked--it means that someone has possibly stolen your username and your password and might be using your account to access your personal info or send spam to everyone on your contact list. It is important to notify your email and or ISP provider – do not reply directly to the email, but immediately call your co-worker, friend or family member and let them know…

When an e-mail account is hacked or taken over, the one who has done this, almost always will use the account to spread spam or in some cases viruses.   If someone in you know is receiving e-mail from you with one of these types of messages, you can almost guarantee that your email account has been compromised in some way. Immediately log into your email account and change your password if you can…

If you can’t log into your email, and you use one of the free accounts, such as Hotmail, gmail, yahoo or the like, try to use the “forgot my password” feature that they offer, and usually this will allow  you to reset your password and the message will stop.

If you are unable to change your password or this service does not work the only people who are going to be able to reset your account information is the company or ISP who is providing you e-mail access.

If you are attempting to get into your email account and are greeted with a message which states the account has been blocked due to sending junk messages, and, if it then asks for password information, then, you can almost guarantee your account has been hacked. It is important for you to file out the Live Help Form and for the official reply from MSN – some say they’ve received responses within hours others have said it took over a week.. But remember, a Password reset should only be done through the MSN or other ISP provider email support. You will have to clearly explain the problem to them and key in details of their identity. Once this form is filled in, the process will take off

Some accounts offer you the ability to “Mark As” and offer options in the command section, notifying your provider that the email has been compromised – it might say “my friends been hacked” or other similar terminology…

There are hundreds if not thousands of accounts being blocked because they were hacked and used for spamming, so depending on your Internet Service and/or email provider, it may take up to two weeks before you get an answer.  If the above solution does not work, your account may very well be is lost forever.

Periodically back up or print off your contact list, so that if this happens, you will have your contact list handy when you establish a new account.

Which is faster – cable, telephone or wireless internet??

This is a question that comes up all the time. The following two links are to articles on ehow.com, that we thought might help you better understand this ever changing technology:

www.ehow.com/info_8260618_fios-vs-cable-internet.html#ixzz1ahQZA7JP

www.ehow.com/about_4587185_dsl-cable-wireless-faster.html

According to “ehow.com” FIOS might be the fastest, but FIOS (“fiber optic service”) a product from Verizon, is not available everywhere. Here are some of the differences according to “ehow.com” FiOS potentially offers a lot more bandwidth than cable modems do, and both FIOS and cable offer more download speed than a typical DSL connection.

All Internet providers rate their Internet speeds with two numbers -- download speed and upload speed, where the upload speed is lower – here are the major 3:

• Verizon advertises its top FIOS bandwidth as 20/5 -- 20 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed, and 5 Mbps upload speed
• Comcast digital broadband typically runs at 5 to 7 Mbps download speed and 2 Mbps (or less) upload speeds
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) are typically 1.5 Mbps download speed and 0.7 Mbps upload speeds

Each has advantages and disadvantages:

• Verizon’s FiOS service is offered in a limited set of areas and the fiber optic cable has to be run to your home once it is available in your area
• Cable Internet, such as Comcast’s digital broadband, typically has the widest general reach and is available anywhere there's a coaxial cable connection, over the same wires
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) have somewhat wider coverage, but your home has to be within a certain distance of the telephone switching station

So although Cable Internet may offer higher maximum speeds than DSL or wireless connections, remember that DSL lines belongs only to the person paying for it – whereas, cable connections are usually shared with others in our area, which is why cable users often have fluctuations in the download speeds. So again, according to some, DSL – although slower – might offer more consistent speed..

No matter what – you have to do your homework and be sure you are comparing apples & apples and with technology changing as rapidly as it is, it’s another reason it’s never a good idea to sign a long term contract for any type of service…

Your personal budget should also be a major consideration before making any choice – are the extra few seconds worth hundreds of $$$$ every year??

Should you have many different passwords to get into your accounts?

NO – the more passwords you have the more likely you are to forget them. Consider having 2 or at the most 3 different passwords, but be sure they are strong (combination of numbers and letters work best). Consider

• 1 password for getting into each of your email accounts
• 1 password for getting into your financial accounts
• 1 password for getting into all other accounts you register with

TIPS:

• Keep your primary email addresses, user names and passwords on an index card with your other important papers.
• Don't share your passwords on the Internet, over email, on the phone or in the mail with something sent to you-only when you generate the contact. Internet Service Providers (ISP) and reputable companies will never generate calls, emails or correspondence asking for your password or other confidential information. If it doesn't feel right - don't respond!!!!
• Passwords are always case sensitive
• Never use your email password for anything but your email account
• Create another password (minimum 8-20 characters) a word & phrase with 3 or 4 numbers (be sure the numbers & letters are not consecutive, that you use for all other Internet accounts. If you need to change it, reverse the order (i.e. 4378david or david4378 or DAVID4378 or 4378 DAVID)