UKC

Friends are getting spam apparently from my e-mail account.

However, there's nothing in my sent items or deleted items.

If it *is* coming form my account, any ideas on how to stop it? I have run all manner of malware and virus checkers; all clean and there is no other strange activity on the computer.

If it is spoofing using my e-mail address but not actually from my e-mail account, presumably there's little I can do?

Running Windows Live Mail on Windows 7 if that matters.

Thanks for the help.

J

In reply to JJL:

Almost certainly this is what is happening - you could ask them to look at the header information which will tell them where it is really coming from.

As you say, not much you can do, unfortunately

In reply to JJL:

I assume you've changed the password on the account too?

In reply to JJL:

Is it a free virus checker or one you have paid for?

In reply to JJL:

The spammer is not going to use your email address since that defeats the point as they want the recipients to think it is you but when replying it goes to another address

They have just grabbed your contacts

In reply to m0unt41n:

How?

In reply to JJL:

This has happened to me. And I also get a lot of spam from others. It always seems to be my contacts with Yahoo Mail addresses.

In reply to JJL:

Who is your e-mail provider?

In reply to EddInaBox:

Virgin media

In reply to neilh:


Microsoft security essentials
AVG
Bit Defender
Malware bytes
spybot

All one at a time

In reply to JJL:

I had a feeling it might be:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VMspoofingemails/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/09/virgin_media_spoof_email_issues/
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/email-hacked/td-p/2911593
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/Recieved-about-20-of-these-has-my...

In reply to EddInaBox:

Hi

That is really, really helpful - thank you. I don't know why I hadn't found them in my searches.

I did indeed get a letter from Virgin saying my account ahd been used, but it's all continued after changing passwords etc.

Time ot go to gmail

J

In reply to JJL:

Same down here in Oz. Infuriating isn't it. I get repeated emails from two friends but they always calll me Robert or Andrew and contain a blue link (which I delete straight away).
Malwarebytes, Adaware, Spybot and McAfee can't kill 'em, nor updating p/word. I could however have fourteen tonnes of cheap Cialis and Viagra from Canada and there's 48 attractive ladies living within a mile of my house. Who I've never seen out & about in 11 years in this hood.

Honestly! How do the bstrds do it?

In reply to JJL:

If it was me I would ditch the freebies and buy a licence and stick with one.

I once had horrendous problems and did this and they vanished overnight.

put it this way - you are not going to get the best by using free stuff

In reply to neilh:

Hmmm. I probably agree re "best", but I'm fairly persuaded that the issue isn't with my computer

In reply to JJL:

surely its with the virus checker. You will probably find the freebies only check incoming not ougoing.But I am no expert in this.

In reply to neilh:

No. I think what others have said further up the thread us that the address is being used as spoof - I.e. It appears to come from me but actually originated elsewhere and isn't sent from my computer or email account

In reply to neilh:


And paying certainly doesn't guarantee you get the 'best'; I've had paid for virus checkers that act more like viruses themselves, considering how intrusive they are on the machine, and how much they prevent me actually using it for things like, opening files, running programs and just typing stuff... Some are hideous CPU and memory hogs.

In reply to captain paranoia:

I've used Mcaphee and Norton, they were both useless and slowed down my computer so I went to Avast free version and stopped having issues. Whats annoying is that these sometimes get bundled with new buys and it's not straightforward to get rid of them, which in itself is annoying.

Al