Is your Yahoo e-mail account sending out SPAM?

[robert213]

I have several e-mail accounts through Yahoo. One of them, I use everyday. The rest, I use for specific occasions -- one for computer-related stuff, another for car-related stuff, another for music-related stuff, etc.

Well, my main Yahoo e-mail account is beginning to receive SPAM from my other Yahoo accounts -- most of which I haven't signed into in over 3 weeks.

Anyone else, receiveing SPAM e-mails from friends with Yahoo accounts?

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Yes, I am changing the passwords to all of my e-mail accounts as I speak...
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Finished changing passwords. Strange observations.
1) Two of the accounts that sent SPAM, I haven't used since early November.
2) I have never upgraded from Classic View Yahoo. All of the acccounts that sent SPAM, were upgraded (by someone or something) to the latest version of Yahoo e-mail.
-----------------
Uh-oh -- recent sign-on activity...
http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=e ... id=SLN2073
Access Type: Yahoo Mobile Location: Mexico

[loyukfai]

Scan your computer for virus and malware, then changing the password should help.

Cheers.

[robert213]

Yahoo's server must have been hacked. I was not using any computer at the time that the SPAM messages were sent.

I was not using any computer when the SPAM messages went out.

Recent activity of account info says...

10:16 PM Browser Mail Access Mexico201.166.45.15
10:16 PM Yahoo! Mobile Logged In Mexico

The SPAM messages have this exact same timestamp.

[rkawakami]

That's one explanation. Another would be that there's is/was a keystroke logger on your computer and your account details were sent back to to whoever created it. Still another would be if you used an unencrypted wireless link and somebody was snooping data packets.

[Cigarguy]

I read somewhere, maybe Tom's Hardware, that Yahoo's site was hacked a while back. I know I read it but I don't have a link as I don't have a Yahoo account so did not pay much attention. Today I got 3 spam emails from 3 different unknown person who all had Yahoo accounts.

[robert213]

Another would be that there's is/was a keystroke logger on your computer and your account details were sent back to to whoever created it.

That is what I am cautious about. There is a piece of wisdom used in playing poker -- If you look around the poker table and you are unable to spot the patsy, then chances are that the patsy is you.

I was hoping that several people would have replied back confirming that this was a nation-wide event. Now, I am beginning to believe that my experience is just another isolated instance.

I am puzzled. I have two Yahoo accounts that I use everyday. Only one of the two sent out SPAM. I have over five accounts that I haven't used since early November. Two of them, sent out SPAM.

Just to be safe, I am restoring all of my machines back to harddrive images that have never been on the internet.

Here is the format of the SPAM message:
Hi!
<url link>

<first name> <last name>

[loyukfai]

Nation wide...? Dunno, but based on my anecdotal experience, Yahoo emails accounts being hijacked/hacked seems to be more common than that of Gmail.

Have seen some cases of Hotmail too, but in recent times, it's mostly Yahoo.

It can mean a lot of things, like Yahoo webmail's security is relatively easy to be compromised, like hackers tend to target Yahoo more, like more people use Yahoo than other webmail services, like...

If someone has more insights, I'd love to hear.

Cheers.

[rkawakami]

I've received several of those emails recently and seen some posted in messages to a YahooGroup I belong to; someone I know by name and has a link to click on. One personal email came in with my wife's name as the sender but from a totally unknown (probably spoofed) Yahoo address. As far as I can tell, none of my computer systems, nor our email accounts, have been hacked. At the time my assumption was that our "email relationship" was sussed out by scanning out Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networking profiles. Either that, somebody's email address book has been exposed .

There appears to have been at least two recent Yahoo hacks:

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/01/0 ... -to-blame/
http://mashable.com/2012/07/12/yahoo-voices-hacked/

@rober213: Thanks for that link to check on recent Yahoo logins.