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no_hypocrisy

(48,781 posts)
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 10:39 AM Aug 2021

My friend's Yahoo e-mail has been hacked.

Last edited Sun Aug 15, 2021, 01:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Other than change her password, is there another remedy?

Update: To be more specific, her e-mail has been commandeered, the password changed, and she's locked out.

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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My friend's Yahoo e-mail has been hacked. (Original Post) no_hypocrisy Aug 2021 OP
Suggestion Only wyn borkins Aug 2021 #1
Better password RainCaster Aug 2021 #2
I Agree With Your 'Better Password' Suggestion wyn borkins Aug 2021 #4
If you want to be absolutely secure, do not use real words in the password. Earth-shine Aug 2021 #7
Understood... wyn borkins Aug 2021 #8
Here's a good way. Pick a song, then take the first letter of every word in the first line Earth-shine Aug 2021 #9
A Good Idea wyn borkins Aug 2021 #10
99% of the time ... CloudWatcher Aug 2021 #3
This! Hugh_Lebowski Aug 2021 #5
Possibly Recover My Compromised PC Yahoo! Mail Account wyn borkins Aug 2021 #6

wyn borkins

(1,109 posts)
1. Suggestion Only
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 10:51 AM
Aug 2021

If she wishes to stay with Yahoo! Mail, then perhaps open a new account (with them) utilizing a different account name along with a new password = (?).

RainCaster

(11,543 posts)
2. Better password
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 11:03 AM
Aug 2021

Passwords should be complex and random. Not words that can be easily guessed. What I do is:
1. Minimum of 16 characters
2. Upper case, lower case, numbers and special characters mixed
3. Change passwords at least once a year.

 

Earth-shine

(4,044 posts)
7. If you want to be absolutely secure, do not use real words in the password.
Mon Aug 16, 2021, 07:13 PM
Aug 2021

It may or may not be good enough, but this password is not truly random.

 

Earth-shine

(4,044 posts)
9. Here's a good way. Pick a song, then take the first letter of every word in the first line
Mon Aug 16, 2021, 07:58 PM
Aug 2021

of the song.

From my childhood ...

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg.

password: JbBsRlae

Then add some stuff that's meaningful. Perhaps your birth month at the beginning and date at the end.

password: 09JbBsRlae11

The hacker algorithms will never guess this. But, you can remember it.

Good luck and safe internet travels.

CloudWatcher

(1,923 posts)
3. 99% of the time ...
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 11:23 AM
Aug 2021

Fyi most of the reports of email being hacked are not really true, spammers routinely fake the "From" address in email messages making it look like they've gotten control of your email account.

If the only evidence for the account having been hacked is email that was sent "from" their email account, before believing the worst, you need to examine one of the messages "raw headers" and check the "Received" lines and "Message-ID" lines and take a very close look at the "From" and "Sender" lines and see if the message was actually sent from a Yahoo computer.

I get messages every day from spammers pretending to have sent from my email account. So far, they've actually all come from machines outside the US or malware-infected systems being used as spam-bots.

Of course, changing passwords on yahoo and running malware scans on whatever computers they're using is never a bad idea.

Edit to add: unfortunately reviewing and understanding the "raw" and normally hidden email headers is a bit of an art form. When you first encounter them they can seem a bit complex. It's best to get some help as needed to figure it out.

 

Hugh_Lebowski

(33,643 posts)
5. This!
Sun Aug 15, 2021, 11:28 AM
Aug 2021

However, changing passwords doesn't hurt anything.

Can also add 2-factor authentication (those codes that get sent to your phone).

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