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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it should be possible to contact hotmail services when account has been hijacked?

33 replies

wabbit · 11/02/2009 14:34

And the hijackers have blocked my access to my account - and to my facebook account ... and there's no way I'll remember all my contacts

And to top it all I've had all and sundry ringing me - from my business colleagues to university tutors - saying I've sent a 'disturbing' mail begging them to send me money as I'm stuck in NIGERIA

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

have spent hours trying to get back into my account and now near to tears

so have come here to rant

OP posts:
RedtartanLass · 11/02/2009 14:40

OMG how awful!! No advice just sympathy!!

morningpaper · 11/02/2009 14:42

Have you reported it to the police?

shangrila · 11/02/2009 14:45

Wabbit, poor you.

But you can contact them, and after a few questions, they will free your account up again. Happened to me 6 months ago and took a day or so to put right. They'll also ask you for the subject titles of a number of emails you've recently received, so it's an idea to have a think about that.

Good luck.

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 14:48

shangrila - how can i contact them?
DD has given me her account details so I can get into the hotmail site but my domaine (sp) seems to be totally inaccessible - they've even changed my secret question

OP posts:
Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 14:50

No, not reported it to the police - I've not even thought about that Morningpaper, would they even take it seriously?

OP posts:
morningpaper · 11/02/2009 14:54

yes, I would report it

shangrila · 11/02/2009 14:59

Right, go to the sign in page, then navigate:

Help Central (bottom right of screen)

Click on 'Why Can't I sign in' - one of the fAQ's

Click on 'Get More Help' in the bigger dialogue box

Click Get support

Fill out the Email support form.

They will take it seriously and will get back to you. They'll also set up a new account in your old address with a new password, so you can have access to all your existing mails and contacts.

Worth a try!

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 15:14

thanks shangrila... will try that - I've been to the page you mean but not found the e-mail support form yet, tis worth a try

OP posts:
Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 15:22

Right - have sent mail to support team, hope this will be done and dusted soon, I've wasted hours and hours on this today and been so stressed i've been shouting at the children

I'm not a shouter

and now I feel ashamed

OP posts:
psychomum5 · 11/02/2009 15:58

oh wabbit, this is really quite scary.

lets hope it is sortable!

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 16:09

Have a Support Ticket Number... to quote when I contact them - I hope it's sortable too

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:14

This happened to me

First thing i did was to check all accounts registered with that email (starting with MN ) and imediately changed all passwords and email detail to everything

Unfortunately they stole my ebay account and listed a load of items for sale, luckly ebay were very good and as i was able to give them proof of my identitly they immediately froze my account until i could sort out alternative and more secure email

As for hotmail, if its a free account they wont do feck all about it, you will loose that account, just make sure you swap everything that is linked to that email address

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 16:19

I wondered if that might be the case VT... bugger

I'll do the changing accounts that are linked to that address to be safe.

Oh god, it's my Paypal and everything!

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:20

since it happened i dont use my hotmail account for anything that involves bank card details like ebay, online shopping, banking etc... i use a secure email, apparently hotmail is very easy to hack into, unless you pay for the more secure account

TheInvisibleManDidIt · 11/02/2009 16:22

Oh Wabbit! What a nightmare. Hope you get it sorted soon.

frogs · 11/02/2009 16:23

Not necessarily, VT -- it happened to me recently (on Boxing Day, guess they thought people would be less likely to notice over Christmas) and the hijackers sent messages to everyone in my contact list advertising chinese electronics.

I managed to get into the account on another computer and changed the password and increased the security (under the login box, you can use more advanced security settings).

Everything's been fine since then. But listening to other people's experiences, the chinese electronics hijackers seem to be a less virulent breed than the 'kidnapped in nigeria' scammers, so the techniques may not be the same.

I was worried about my ebay account as well, but it was fine. I have reset a lot of passwords though. Check your puter for malware and spyware too (mine was fine).

Nekabu · 11/02/2009 16:23

Any online accounts you have - ebay/paypal, bank, credit cards, council tax, anything at all that you can think of, phone or email them, explain what has happened and get your accounts frozen. Any cards you have used to make online payments recently, call them too and get new ones.

Don't bother calling the police as they won't be able do anything really.

Nekabu · 11/02/2009 16:24

Hmm, though if they've got into your Facebook account they may be about to try an ID theft. Sign up to one of those credit check companies who will let you know if there's anyone trying to take out a loan in your name.

VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:27

No police wont do anything

Start logging into all your accounts where you have used that email as verification and change the email in that account, otherwise they can just do a forgot username and password and get it sent to your hotmail, then steal your other accounts, thats how they got my ebay account

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 16:30

Oh this is looking worse than I thought.

can i just curl up and go to sleep????? I've had about 10 ours sleep over the last 3 nights trying to keep up with Uni assignments

zzzzz

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:30

For instance if you login to mymumsnet then go to registration details, your email with be logged on that screen, you need to change it to a different email, then do the same for everything

Start with your paypal, login to paypal and go to account details and change your email

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 16:34

OK

To do this, I have to have a new mail account... which provider would you suggest???

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:36

Do you have a work email you can use for now, or even set up a new hotmail account until you can get a more secure email

What about the email you have with your ISP, do you use that at all?

Original poster
wabbit · 11/02/2009 16:39

[dumb emoticon] ISP? I'm afraid I don't know what it means

Have a Uni address but can't seem to access that at the moment!

OP posts:
VinegarTits · 11/02/2009 16:42

Internet Service Provider, i.e Sky, BT

You can still swap them all to your uni address for now, doesnt matter if you cant access it right now, just as long as you swap the important ones quickly, just in case

It is highly likely that they have hyjacked your account just to use it as a phising emails, but you cant be too careful you need to swap everything just in case