topic Re: Email Hacked? in Email

Email Hacked?

TonyO — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 22:42:56 GMT

I have in the last couple of days received notification of undelivered Emails. But there are to people I do not know. I think that somebody is sending out emails using my email address. The address used is not one I use but it is the default address home@XXXX.plus.net.

Is there a way to find out how this is happening and stop it?

Re: Email Hacked?

adamwalker — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 14:20:03 GMT

Hi TonyO, sorry to see this has happened to you. Commonly this can happen due to a virus on your device. If it's PC that you're using to check your emails on I'd run a full anti-virus scan.

Re: Email Hacked?

Champnet — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 19:47:48 GMT

@TonyO An interesting 'conversation' that maybe of help :

https://community.plus.net/t5/Email/Flooded-by-Spam/td-p/1882078

Re: Email Hacked?

TonyO — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 20:30:42 GMT

My virus checker is upto date and did not find anything. Just to be on the safe side I did a manual scan and download another checker, again this showed clear. As the email is not used I think it is something else. It is either a hacker who knows the Plusnet standard email format or in Plusnet itself.

I have been pointed to another thread that with stop the returns coming back but the problem as I see it is why are they going out in the first place and how many are finding their target?

Re: Email Hacked?

Townman — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 13:10:56 GMT

@TonyO

Such has nothing to do with hacking or virus activity.

Unless restrictions are put in place, anyone can send an email and make it look as though it came from anyone@accountname.plus.com. Such emails do not need to originate from anywhere near your email account nor Plusnet's servers.

There is no assurance that s display name has a clear association with the sending email address. Remote systems will use the sending address for non-delivery reports. This is known as back-scatter.

There are measures which email providers can put in place to advise if a sending email server (SMTP) is authorise to send mail on behalf of the sending address' domain name. It is call SPF, which Plusnet had a skirmish in implementing ... but questionable implementations with two of the big providers (Gmail and Outlook.com) created so many issues that it was with drawn.