10 NEWSLETTER. March 2014

Security

Tips for When Your Email Account Is Hacked

Security was recently informed that some members within Frenchman’s Creek had experienced their Google Gmail account had been hacked. Someone was able to get the list of contacts from these member’s accounts and send out bogus emails to family, friends and business associates. Listed below you will find tips for what to do if you experience a similar situation. You think you've taken all the right steps to protect your email account. However, despite your best efforts, it's been hacked. Your friends are texting and calling you, wondering if you're really stuck in London without your passport and money. You're finding yourself locked out of your email account. Now what do you do? Here are seven steps to keep you and your email contacts safe after your email account has been hijacked or otherwise compromised.

1. Check your email provider's site for information. Most email providers like Yahoo, Google and Microsoft will have online instructions on what do to in case of an account takeover. Yahoo Mail has a links entitled "I can't access my account" on the front page; for Microsoft's Outlook.com, it's "Can't access your account?" Google has separate sets of instructions for "Compromised Gmail account" and "Someone is sending from my address" in the Security & Privacy section under Help. 2. Call your email provider to report the incident. "If [the website FAQ] doesn't work for you, call [the company] directly and ask to speak to their tech department to find out what you should do," said Adam Levin, former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and the founder of Credit.com and Identity Theft 911. You should also report the incident

have received emails from your hijacked account should run malware scans, Levin said. 4. Examine your personal email settings. Your email hijackers might have created forwarding policies from your email address to other addresses. Those other email addresses will receive everything you receive — including bank statements and personal messages. "Even if you get back in your email and s traighten everything out, unbeknownst to you, it is forwarding every email you are sending and receiving to the hacker," Levin said. Look at your email account's signature settings to be sure the hacker hasn't changed your automatic signature. "Check to make sure you signature block hasn't become 'Hello Kitty,'" Levin said. "They might have put some malicious links in there as well."

to your email provider's security team, Levin said. "Do this as you're in the process of getting your email account back," he said. "It can help them find a pattern they can use with law enforcement to help find the people who are doing it — although the problem is usually the people who are doing it are 17 countries removed." 3. Alert family, friends and acquaintances. "You should tell people that your email has been hacked and that they might be receiving emails from you asking for money or promoting certain products or services — but they weren't really from you," Levin said. "You also have to deliver the bad news," he added. "If, by some chance, they actually clicked on whatever the [hackers] sent, it is not inconceivable that there might have been malware attached to it." Both you and all the persons who

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March 2014

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