I think I've done a stupid thing....

[Ann from Sussex]

..by clicking on a link in an email that appeared to come from a friend. Since it took me to a web site selling viagra I don't think it was from him after all. Since he is a genealogy freak like me I assumed the link was to do with family history. I think his email account has been hacked into but what are the likely repercussions for my computer and my email? I did a full anti-virus and malware scan straight away and nothing was found but how will I know if my email has been hi-jacked and what can I do about it if it has?

Ann

[Guest]

I was googling for a error code forum yesterday and clicked on a site yesterday and up came all sorts of boxes telling me I had all these virus's and malicious stuff and to click on and scan it was so real looking even had a counter running ? I almost did ??? but instead clicked on the red crosses to close them off and decided instead to run a scan with my Kaspersky even though I thought it wouldn't have let anything through just in case and it was clear .
Very very scarey .
Not sure how you check for what you want , but if you have a good virus and spyware you should be okay.

[Margaret N]

Good Evening Ladies,

I don't know how you have set your email accounts up. I have some Gmail addresses and the emails stay on their server and not my PC as I understand it. I have been told that if I leave Gmail I will never see my present emails again because they are on their server. This type of account should prevent an email actually being downloaded to your PC.
My other accounts with Windows Mail I view first via www.mail2.com
I find this a brilliant service and I can open and read the content before download and if I don't like it, I delete it.
The only tip I would give with this particular programme is not to download your mail after reading it on the mail2web site straight away as it takes time for it to be removed from their server.
This will all depend on the type of set up for your PC and if you like your emails to continuously drop onto your PC then the mail2web system will not work for you. I have my PC set up so that I click receive as and when it suits me.
I expect half the members will tell me what a lot of rubbish this is but it works for me but then I only get a handful of emails in a month.

[clematised]

This has happened to my brother recently as they just type in anything similar to his to get the e mails sent and you only know if one of your e mailers lets you know, my brother closed his down and opened another account with G mail but I have had a couple more from his old address which he no longer uses.

When it happened to me a year ago I panicked but I was assured that all would be ok and it has been so far as mine was hacked to send diet pill info as some came back from the mail system unable to mail as the addresses were no longer in use so thats how I found out about it.

Edna

[Ann from Sussex]

This afternoon I've had another email, seemingly from the same friend, entitled "Fwd. Virus Warning Read Immediately". That set alarm bells ringing! I've deleted it without opening - I always do that with forwarded things anyway - and emailed him to ask if he really has sent it. I wonder if it's significant that he hasn't replied in the half hour since I sent my email to him,meaning that he isn't online this afternoon and didn't send it? Now I'm wondering if the first email which took me to the Viagra site was a softening up/frightner exercise to make me open this one which is the harmful one. Or am I paranoid?!Trouble is, now I won't dare open ANYTHING from him.

Ann

[lorry53]

Have you spoken with your friend rather than emailing him? It might be an idea to suggest he creates a new email account if his current one has been compromised. Or maybe he could insert a specific character, e.g. ~ unobtrusively in the subject line if it's genuinely from him? A new email account may be easier in the long run, though.

[col48]

Quite likely none of the computers is infected - just the email address book copied. Lorry53's approach seems sensible.
When considering whether to click on a link in an email, think about what the rest of the email says. If it consists just of a link, why has it been sent to you? Did you request one - and if so, does the subject tie in with your request? Is this someone who genuinely often sends links?
If the rest of the email is on a subject of no interest to you, why should the link be, even if the email really was sent by a friend?

I have a friend who frequently sends links to jokes etc, but I'm afraid I never open them.

[Ann from Sussex]

Thanks to all who have replied to this thread. I had some more suspicious emails, apparently from my friend which I deleted. Then I phoned him; some had been from him (he runs our local genealogy group) and some weren't. It turns out that his Hotmail address book had been hijacked and he has now sorted it out. I feel very lucky not to have got a virus from this incident - it was "just" spam. I am normally such a cautious person where such things are concerned but I was in a hurry, the email was from someone I know well anfrom whom I am used to getting messages with links to interesting sites in. It has brought me up short and taught me a valuable lesson - you can never be too careful and don't trust anything or anyone on the internet.

Ann