It can be very unnerving to realize that your email account has been accessed by somebody else or worse, that it has been completely taken over. Unfortunately, email account takeover is not, by law, considered identity theft. Depending on what the intruder uses, it can potentially be considered false impersonation.
EMAIL ACCOUNT TAKEOVER/HACK
There are some signs of email account takeover, including:
- Inability to log in to your account
- Account information or settings are changed
- Login activity from suspicious locations
- Your contacts are receiving spam messages
- There are items in your sent items that you did not send
If you think your account has been hacked and you still have access to it, you should immediately change your password and security questions (or add security questions if you do not have them) and implement two-factor authentication.
If you no longer have access, you need to contact your email provider. Ask them to issue a temporary password so you can regain access and change your password and security questions. You might consider closing the account depending on the severity.
Notify your email contacts separately and advise them not to respond to any requests made from your account, including providing information, clicking on links or downloading files or applications.
Make note of all the entities that use your hacked email as their billing/correspondence email. Log into each online account separately, or call each account holder, and change where emailed correspondence is sent.
If you have login information, passwords or other sensitive information stored in your email be prepared to take additional steps to protect those accounts including monitoring those accounts, changing usernames/passwords and enabling two-factor authentication.
FRAUDULENT USE/SPOOF
Whether accidentally or intentionally, someone may be using your email address to sign up for accounts in their name, not yours. When possible contact the account provider to let them know the email address they have on file is yours, but the rest of the account does not belong to you.
Another common event is that your contacts receive a scam or spam type email that appears to be from your email address, but upon further investigation is actually from a completely different email address (if you are on a desktop or laptop you can hover the mouse cursor over the email address that is displayed to see what the email address actually is). In this instance, your email address is being spoofed. More than likely that has to do with the recipient’s email account and address book potentially being compromised and not that your email account has been hacked (check your sent items to be sure). Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about an unknown scammer using your email address as a cover for their own, other than educating your contacts about what may be happening.
REPORT BAD BEHAVIOR
You can report suspicious activity or issues to Google, Yahoo and Outlook. Check with your specific provider for reporting options. Most providers do have an email address or an online report that you can fill out, but the chances of speaking to a live person are generally slim.
If you are looking for direct assistance and a personalized plan to remediate your case of email account takeover, call an expert advisor for no-cost at 888.400.5530 or LiveChat with us.
