Well, in reality - there's not much you can do until after the fact and then it's too late...
I also cleared all my contacts and reloaded them because Yahoo had dumped them already for me and I had no choice. Fortunately I had them available and was able to selectively import all my old ones.
The only other thing that can be done is to simply get an entirely new email address and shut the other one down.
I have been pretty lucky in this regard as this is the first time it has happened to me. Several of my friends and acquaintances in Bahrain – several of whom have very sophisticated IT Staff, are with the government (theirs and ours), or are part of the royal family and the very latest equipment have had this happen to them in the past few months and apparently whatever it is got my email list from my contact with them and through the Yahoo server..
It is not something that personal PC virus protection is able to detect as it is not a worm or virus in the individual's PC is the screwy part. It is a true hack job on Yahoo based on them following up on emails that are exchanged between someone that has a “weak” system without a strong protection system and they get into the Yahoo server that way (not into your computer itself…). I recently got a new computer with the latest whiz bangs and have three levels of virus protection which is what makes this whole thing aggravating – it’s not MY computer – it’s the email host's server that got hacked. Friends of mine who have had this happen to them have had identical stories sent about them and they have had to change passwords, etc., as well.
The other aggravating thing is that Yahoo comes back all huffy like it’s somehow my fault and says, “we have detected suspicious activity on your account” – which is true, except that their server is what has been hacked and not my computer per se. gmail, hotmail, yahoo, etc., stores your contacts lists and all those folders and files we fill in and up on THEIR server and not your C hard drive(or others). So, in reality it is Yahoo’s “fault”.
The other aggravating thing is that Yahoo immediately “claims” to have upgraded my account and forces me to use a number, a symbol, and a capital and at least 7 digits to sign in which means I have to dream up a new password that is more complex than the last – and that is why a lot of email addresses will have numbers in them – because they have had to “upgrade” at some point in the past and to make it simpler just add a number – often you can tell how many times a person has changed their email address by the number in the title… funny.
Bottom line is that it is NOT MY computer that has been hacked – it is the server of the host email company – and they are supposed to be reputable. In truth I have had a Yahoo account for many years simply because everything that I don’t want to go through my personal Outlook to avoid all that stuff being on my hard drive (for “filing” purposes” is simpler though hotmail or yahoo as it is usually just a funny, etc.,) but this time, I look like an idiot… Yikes!!
ROBERT
AAAAAAAAAAg - Air Force Aggie Architect & Administrator from Amarillo, Altus, Austin, Arabia, Arkansas, Africa, Seoul, & now Amman, Jordan '65, '69, '73
"The most potent weapon against basic human decency, in the armamentarium of pure evil, is the self-imposed ignorance and moral decay of the people themselves."