What should I do if my e-mail has been spoofed?

Question

What should I do if my e-mail has been spoofed?

Anonymous

A few months ago I've noticed my Outlook account was trying to be accessed multiple times by multiple different IP addresses from all over the world, now that's pretty bad on its own, but I had already activated every single security measure I could, and changed all my passwords.

However, I don't think all that effort could prevent my e-mail address from being spoofed. I've received an e-mail from myself, where the "hacker" in question decided to say he had information and data that he couldn't possibly have, and with no proof either. Still, however - it is annoying and concerning to have your e-mail address spoofed.

I'm currently already executing a malware scan on my computer, is there anything else I could/should do?

Thank you.

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2 answers

Answer 1

Point #1 (login attempts from all over the world)

This is typical. Many of my users (I'm an admin) are getting hit with failed login attempts from many different IP addresses all over the world. You can enable multi factor authentication if you have not done that yet.

Point #2 (spoofed mail)

This is also normal. Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do to stop them from using your email address. I got that email too. The so called "hacker" says a lot about how they got into my account (LOL). Fact is, they have no skill to hack so they write a scary story and hope that some unsuspecting mail users will send them money (bitcoin). It's nothing but annoyance, just like spam.

Answer 2

Hello Matheus

Hi, I'm Karl and will be happy to help you today.

If your email address is getting "spoofed" - there is absolutely nothing you can do about that. A malware scan will not help. It just means that your email address has been harvested and is being sold on the drk web to spammers.

As for the email message you referred to, if it's what I think it is where you are being asked to make a payment via Bitcoin, just ignore and delete those. I've received more then 830 messages like that over the last couple of years.

The following is a standard reply I give to those who ask about a sudden increase in <spam> and <unexpected> log in attempts which you may find of interest in how your email address gets harvested by spammers

The usual source of a sudden increase in failed login attempts or spam mail received is that the email address was harvested by a hacker who breached a data base on a website where you subscribed to something. That database gets repeatedly sold to other hackers/spammers on the dark web.

Many people think that hackers penetrate the actual Microsoft servers to gain access to email accounts when that isn't the case. Instead they gain access to an actual account via any number of other ways including phishing emails.

You can check to see if the email address comes up on a breached database on the following website created/run by Microsoft MVP Troy Hunt.

https://haveibeenpwned.com/

Pwned websites

https://haveibeenpwned.com/PwnedWebsites#Epik

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What should I do if my e-mail has been spoofed?

2 answers