One day, you might log into your email account to find people replying to messages you don't remember sending. Or you might not be able to log in at all. If that's happened to you, you may have been hacked and you might want to think about an identity fraud health check.
Why would someone want to hack into your email? There are two possibilities. The first is that they use your email to send viruses and spam links to other people, including the people in your contacts list. The second reason is to commit identity fraud. We send a lot of personal information through our emails, so if a hacker was trying to get at your bank records, they might try to see if you mention them in an email.
If you believe your email has been hacked, you should immediately alert the system administrator. If you use a free email service like Hotmail or Gmail, it's possible there's been a security breach on their end and they'll need to know. If the hacked account belongs to your work, you should immediately tell someone in IT. In either case, the worst thing you can do is stay quiet. This hacking won't just inconvenience you; it could be a major blow to your company or your friends.
Make sure you change your passwords. It's important to vary your PINs and passwords and make them as complicated as possible (including characters, numbers and letters) to make it harder for them to be cracked.
Tell everyone you know that your email has been hacked and that messages coming from that address aren't to be trusted. Hacked accounts are often used to send out hundreds of messages containing links. Clicking those links might lead to viruses or spyware, which is why you need to make it clear that those messages aren't to be trusted.
Finally, you may need to contact the police. Identity theft is a crime, and a rapidly growing one at that. Identity thieves may empty bank accounts or rack up credit card debts using the information they stole, so you need to be careful to look after your personal information and identity. Remember to be careful with what information you put online and how you use the net. You might also want to consider investing in a specialist service to help you protect your identity that includes an identity fraud health check. This will assess your risk straight away and provide advice on what steps you can take to help you protect yourself.
Why would someone want to hack into your email? There are two possibilities. The first is that they use your email to send viruses and spam links to other people, including the people in your contacts list. The second reason is to commit identity fraud. We send a lot of personal information through our emails, so if a hacker was trying to get at your bank records, they might try to see if you mention them in an email.
If you believe your email has been hacked, you should immediately alert the system administrator. If you use a free email service like Hotmail or Gmail, it's possible there's been a security breach on their end and they'll need to know. If the hacked account belongs to your work, you should immediately tell someone in IT. In either case, the worst thing you can do is stay quiet. This hacking won't just inconvenience you; it could be a major blow to your company or your friends.
Make sure you change your passwords. It's important to vary your PINs and passwords and make them as complicated as possible (including characters, numbers and letters) to make it harder for them to be cracked.
Tell everyone you know that your email has been hacked and that messages coming from that address aren't to be trusted. Hacked accounts are often used to send out hundreds of messages containing links. Clicking those links might lead to viruses or spyware, which is why you need to make it clear that those messages aren't to be trusted.
Finally, you may need to contact the police. Identity theft is a crime, and a rapidly growing one at that. Identity thieves may empty bank accounts or rack up credit card debts using the information they stole, so you need to be careful to look after your personal information and identity. Remember to be careful with what information you put online and how you use the net. You might also want to consider investing in a specialist service to help you protect your identity that includes an identity fraud health check. This will assess your risk straight away and provide advice on what steps you can take to help you protect yourself.