User Panel
Posted: 2/21/2024 10:13:48 AM EDT
Yesterday my hotmail emails were messed with and one of them was ultimately locked. Microsoft stepped in and unblocked things but now I see I was sent like 1000+ spam messages from the identical email. I also see a good number of Russian emails (Cyrillic lettering). In another email account I got a notification that someone in Russia was trying to change my password. Yesterday I also had a bunch of attempts to trick me into revealing info about my Paypal account. I was called and texted for like a half hour straight. Finally I called Paypal and they had no evidence of anything on their end and chalked it up to spam. Then all attempts stopped.
I feel like either my phone or my laptop have been hacked but only for those two things. My ARF, FB, bank, etc. accounts are fine. So it's not universal. Have never dealt with this before but I run a business linked to both devices so I need to figure this out ASAP! If it helps, computer is a Dell and phone is a Samsung. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks! EDIT: Now they are going after my bank!! I just got two texts on my phone to enter a security code from my bank to verify my identity. These fuckers are pushing hard!!! How do I burn down their tree house?? EDIT2: Just hung up with my bank....Someone named "Jermey" Zell'd themselves 2 transactions totally $300 from my own bank account today so this now stepped over and into fraud. Heading to my bank to lock the account now. |
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Are they in your sent email folder?
download duo mobile or Microsoft Authenticator and secure your account NOW https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-use-two-step-verification-with-your-microsoft-account-c7910146-672f-01e9-50a0-93b4585e7eb4 |
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First-
Unplug your comp from the internet. On another comp, download zorin OS, yes it linux but it was designed for our grandmas to use linux. I hope you had backups of your files. DO NOT do anything with your current computer, you may have a keylogger. Flash Zorin OS to a USB thumb drive. Boot from that thumb drive. One at the install screen, go advanced and erase hard drive. Once installed, change email from microcrap to proton mail or fastmail. Pay for your email. Download and use keepassXC, one password for your database/ Seperate usernames and passwords for each account. Plus, put a fraud alert on your credit reports. https://zorin.com/os/download/17/core/ https://keepassxc.org/ |
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Quoted: Are they in your sent email folder? download duo mobile or Microsoft Authenticator and secure your account NOW https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-use-two-step-verification-with-your-microsoft-account-c7910146-672f-01e9-50a0-93b4585e7eb4 View Quote No. Inbox. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Are they in your sent email folder? download duo mobile or Microsoft Authenticator and secure your account NOW https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-use-two-step-verification-with-your-microsoft-account-c7910146-672f-01e9-50a0-93b4585e7eb4 No. Inbox. |
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Quoted: First- Unplug your comp from the internet. On another comp, download zorin OS, yes it linux but it was designed for our grandmas to use linux. I hope you had backups of your files. DO NOT do anything with your current computer, you may have a keylogger. Flash Zorin OS to a USB thumb drive. Boot from that thumb drive. One at the install screen, go advanced and erase hard drive. Once installed, change email from microcrap to proton mail or fastmail. Pay for your email. Download and use keepassXC, one password for your database/ Seperate usernames and passwords for each account. Plus, put a fraud alert on your credit reports. https://zorin.com/os/download/17/core/ https://keepassxc.org/ View Quote You're talking to a guy who still uses Hotmail. Do you really think he understood a single word of that post? |
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Quoted: You're talking to a guy who still uses Hotmail. Do you really think he understood a single word of that post? View Quote This is correct. I know I'm behind on the times. But I can do what he's saying. My other computers are Chromebooks though so I'm not sure if that'll matter or be of any use. Oh...I also have a Gmail email for another business. So not totally connected through hotmail. |
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Two simple things to do that will keep you safe on-line...
1. Don't do dumb shit. (Go to sketchy websites, open e-mails from people you don't know, send money to Nigeria, etc.) 2. Create strong and unique passwords. Use an NON-CLOUD BASED password manager like KeepassXC. Make the passwords as long and complicated as the website will allow. Always remember the passwords to your financial, e-mail, and social media accounts. If you somehow get compromised you can rebuild without too much hassle. |
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OP: I'm going to assume you didn't have MFA on the email account. Did you have a password that's simple, or used on multiple websites? Are your devices used on public wifi without a VPN?
IMHO, don't go off the deep end into proton mail and similar. It is a major red flag in some organizations to get emails from those providers. Gmail or MS is fine with MFA. Do any of your customers pay you with ACH or wire transfers? Ever scan a picture of a check with your routing number/account number? You need to be worrying about the banking side of this, and locking all of that down with unique, hard passwords and MFA. Greatly simplified, there's about two reasons you'd be targeted to get hacked as a small business: 1. To target your customers with fake payment details, so the bad actor can intercept your money. 2. To encrypt all of your stuff with ransomware. |
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It doesn't sound like you have much of a problem beyond spam. Don't open those and flag them as spam.
You should probably upgrade to a gmail account. |
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he's getting phishing attempts and doesn't realize they're not from who it looks like they're from
pay attention to return email addresses and delete phishing emails without clicking on anything in the email |
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Quoted: Lower right hand corner look for a shield looking icon. Click on it. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I don't know how to do that. The virus scan. Lower right hand corner look for a shield looking icon. Click on it. "Click on it" is the reason he finds himself in this condition. |
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OP, I can fix all your problems. However, I’ll need $300 in Google Play gift cards first.
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Quoted: No, that is a cloud for cloud storage. Should look something like this https://seeklogo.com/images/M/microsoft-defender-logo-2CAFCABADD-seeklogo.com.png View Quote No I don't see that. In addition see my edit in the OP. Now my bank accounts are being attacked! |
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op you probably should change your passwords and get two step auth.
also I got hacked one time, someone used my damn credit card and IP address to monthly subscribe to plumper pass and Cher Bear 22's only fans. That bastard! had to calm the wife down when she saw the fraudulent charges |
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Quoted: op you probably should change your passwords and get two step auth. also I got hacked one time, someone used my damn credit card and IP address to monthly subscribe to plumper pass and Cher Bear 22's only fans. That bastard! had to calm the wife down when she saw the fraudulent charges View Quote I feel kinda stuck though. I mean if it's not device specific, and they are somehow parasiting off my windows or microsoft accounts....then if I change my passwords they'll automatically see what I change them to. So how do I go about finding and squashing this guy?? Thanks |
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Quoted: No I don't see that. In addition see my edit in the OP. Now my bank accounts are being attacked! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: No, that is a cloud for cloud storage. Should look something like this https://seeklogo.com/images/M/microsoft-defender-logo-2CAFCABADD-seeklogo.com.png No I don't see that. In addition see my edit in the OP. Now my bank accounts are being attacked! Click on the ^ in the lower right corner. The shield is there. |
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You should be able to click on the shield with the yellow exclamation triangle. That will get you to a virus and threat protection screen. You can then do a quick scan for current threats. Follow by a full scan later (full takes a while).
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Quoted: You should be able to click on the shield with the yellow exclamation triangle. That will get you to a virus and threat protection screen. You can then do a quick scan for current threats. Follow by a full scan later (full takes a while). View Quote I have several hours. But in the lower right part of that pic it says a scan was done Sunday and found no threat. So ok, I'll do another scan manually. Thanks |
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Quick update....the computer's virus scan is running. Looks like it'll take 40min or so.
We'll see what happens. Thanks! |
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Sounds like a post a Russian bot would make.
Whats the arfcom secret password? |
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When you were on the phone and texting about your accounts, how was that contact initiated and what information did you provide??? This is vitally important!!!
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Quoted: he's getting phishing attempts and doesn't realize they're not from who it looks like they're from pay attention to return email addresses and delete phishing emails without clicking on anything in the email View Quote I think he already got phished. Guy needs to immediately change every password and enable two step authentication on a clean device. |
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Your email was hacked. Nothing else. All your info was extracted from there. You have all your bank contacts, personal info, and so on.
Did you set up 2 factor authentication? |
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Is your bank password the same as your email password?
If so, change it immediately. And NEVER use the same password for ANYTHING. |
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OP, emails saying things like “SOMEONE IN RUSSIA IS TRYING TO LOGIN TO YOUR ACCOUNT” are often just phishing emails themselves, holding you’ll click through to “confirm your information”
Don’t click shit, and don’t enter your passwords on any site you arrived at by clicking one of those emails. If you go to your bank site visit it from the web browser only. As said, use a different password on every site, MFA wherever possible. This also seems like a flood attack, where you get your email and phone blown up so you miss a motivation about a password change or whatever in the middle of it. So pay attention. First thing first is locking down email with strong password and MFA. Then expand from there. |
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Quoted: See 2nd edit in OP...This fucking sucks!!! View Quote See my post above. Your email was compromised. You have used the same passwords. You don't have 2 factor authentication set-up on any of your accounts. Otherwise, the Zelle would not have occurred to a new party without a code. The bank isn't going to fix it in person. You need to start fixing it from your home. Secure your accounts. Change the passwords. Turn on 2 factor authentication. You should have it for everything you can. |
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A client's email got hacked. Client had a payroll company. The common practice was to email personally hours, rates, etc.
Hacker proceeded to make 2 requests for about $75k and it was debited from her account. Button up everything. |
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Quoted: A client's email got hacked. Client had a payroll company. The common practice was to email personally hours, rates, etc. Hacker proceeded to make 2 requests for about $75k and it was debited from her account. Button up everything. View Quote |
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Quoted: This is what I see.... https://i.imgur.com/oKXeAf9.jpeg" target="_blank">https://i.imgur.com/oKXeAf9.jpeg View Quote Upper right corner. Wondows Defender |
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Quick update...
Went to the bank. While there, they had already taken $100, $200 and were actively trying to get $500 from my account through Zelle and the bank said it was coming from Indonesia. All accounts were immediately closed, disputes for fraud, and new cards/checks are being issued. Next stop was the cell phone store (Verizon). They looked and said the phone was fine but that most likely a bot was attacking all of my accounts linked to one of my emails. That makes sense. They also said that my Dell is most likely the weak link and to turn it off and get it cleaned immediately. Same with my WiFi router. The phone seems like it's damn near bullet-proof and safe to use for whatever. I called my internet service provider. They checked the router and said no one tried to mess with it by adding a device or anything like that. So now I'm on one of my Chromebooks which Verizon said were also difficult to infect or do anything malicious through. This will limp me through tonight and possibly get me to the weekend but now I have a kink in the chain for my business. That Dell was the ONLY computer in the house that could print. So now, no ability to print anything for my business. So now the question becomes.... Buy a new computer? Clean the old Dell? Buy a new printer? Have to call around and see how much a virus scan at company will cost. |
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Most likely you don’t have a virus, you just entered your credentials into a phishing email.
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