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AOL confirms Mail service hacked

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 22, 2014.

  1. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    Believe it or not, I still have a handful of customers that still use AOL for their email addresses....

    AOL Mail has been hacked and several users have reported their accounts are being used to send spam to others.

    Although AOL has confirmed the hack, which thousands were complaining about on Twitter, it is currently unknown how widespread the issue is.

    "AOL takes the safety and security of consumers very seriously, and we are actively addressing consumer complaints," AOL said in a statement. "We are working to resolve the issue of account spoofing to keep users and their respective accounts running smoothly and securely."

    Users' AOL email accounts are sending messages that contain a link in them which could lead to malware, viruses or phishing attacks.

    2a4aa522890d9533dfb36553e90f185c.png

    This screenshot shows a spam message sent by a hacked AOL Mail account.(Photo: Brandon Carte, USA TODAY)

    "If you do find email in your Sent folder that you did not send, your account has been compromised (hacked)" AOL's help page on spoofing states. "If you do not find any strange email in your Sent folder, your account has most likely been spoofed."

    AOL recommends users change their passwords and visit their help pages on spoofing and security more info.

    The official AOL Mail Help Twitter page has also been responding to users' tweets from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. PT.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...-TechTopStories+(USATODAY+-+Tech+Top+Stories)
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 22, 2014
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  3. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    Thanks Cindy,

    I got a call yesterday about this. You don't hear about AOL accounts being hacked. Then I got a call from someone else today.
     
    Tony D, Apr 22, 2014
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  4. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    You are welcome Tony.

    I received a call this morning from a customer about her AOL email account problems.

    I googled it to see what was going on and found this article. (Good timing, I guess...)
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 22, 2014
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  5. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    I googled yesterday. Didn't see anything. It wasn't until this afternoon when that second call came in that I got concerned.
     
    Tony D, Apr 22, 2014
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  6. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    The article came out today.

    A stroke of luck that I found it...
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 22, 2014
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  7. Plastic Nev

    Plastic Nev SUPER MODERATOR IN MEMORY

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    Thanks from me too Cindy, though I don't use AOL, I do know two of my friends do, one of which is a financial advisor, it would wreck his business if that happened so I will warn both.

    Nev.
     
    Plastic Nev, Apr 22, 2014
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  8. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    That could be real trouble.
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 22, 2014
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  9. N3

    N3 Registered Members

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    I just signed onto AOL Email yesterday for the first time! Hmmmm........
     
    N3, Apr 22, 2014
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  10. Plastic Nev

    Plastic Nev SUPER MODERATOR IN MEMORY

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    Just make sure your password is a strong one and you may be OK, not too long ago Hotmail, or its later named Live mail, or whatever it is called now went under a similar spate of account hacks, and all because the users who got caught were using simple passwords.
     
    Plastic Nev, Apr 23, 2014
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  11. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    When my Yahoo account was hacked I had a 15 letter/number combination password.

    Whoever did it used a brute force password cracker to gain access.....

    Sometimes, you just can't win, no matter what you do but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use a strong password as Nev suggests.
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 23, 2014
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  12. DSTM (Dougie)

    DSTM (Dougie) Registered Members

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    Yahoo seems a prime target for Hackers. Luckily I haven't been hacked yet. (TouchWood)
    I have to have a Yahoo account to operate a Flickr account as Flickr is owned byYahoo.
     
    DSTM (Dougie), Apr 23, 2014
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  13. Plastic Nev

    Plastic Nev SUPER MODERATOR IN MEMORY

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    I can't find exactly where it was at the moment but recently read a report on just how sophisticated these hacker or password cracking things have got. In the main though the more complex a password is the less chance of it being cracked, but as in your case Cindy, there are no guarantees.
    The only way to minimise damage is regularly change the password, if for example once a week, then there will only be a weeks worth of damage if they get in. Hopefully though you will find out much earlier and be able to change the password then.
     
    Plastic Nev, Apr 23, 2014
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  14. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

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    I use my Yahoo email account as my home page as that is where I receive my CHF email notifications of new threads.

    When my Yahoo email was hacked I discovered it while it was in process. I kept getting logged out and every time I
    tried to log back in I was taken to a change password page. Each time I was able to log back in and when I viewed the
    account activity page you could see the same Nigerian IP address.
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Apr 23, 2014
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  15. N3

    N3 Registered Members

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    Would it be possible to use oriental lettering and/or a combination with english numerals, punctuation marks or the following as a password for web email? ..........http://www.fontspace.com/category/asian
     
    N3, Apr 23, 2014
    #14
: AOL

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