Hotmail account possibly been hacked? (.com)

MadGamer · 21-11-2004, 11:13

I think my Hotmail account is being hacked into on account of me having to keep changing my password. I just tried signing into MSN Messenger and it basically said "We could not sign you in... please click on OK for instructions on resetting your password." This happened just a second ago when i tried to sign in and also last night.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Paul · 21-11-2004, 11:16

Which hotmail account? .co.uk or ,com? It could just be an issue on the server that your account is based on???
Edit, just looked at the title fully. Your hotmail.com is playing up? How are you logging in? Web interface??

ian@huth · 21-11-2004, 11:57

There is an article at http://www.computerweekly.com/Article123086.htm worth reading.

Passwords are something that many users don't take seriously enough. Many people use the same password for everything on the net that needs a password and that leaves them very vulnerable. You only need someone on a site you have used with access to users passwords and they could try your logon details on other similar sites to see if they work and if they do then try them on internet banking sites.

Try to use a different login name and password on every site you use, although it can be helpful if you are posting on several forums dealing with similar topics to have the same username but always have a different password. Make passwords hard to guess with a combination of letter and numbers. This is also worth doing with email addresses to prevent spam where you are torn between security and making them easy to remember.

Some trojans put a keylogger on your system which can record your passwords so make sure that your Antivirus is up to date and firewall is set up correctly. What I do is to use AiRoboform to store part of the passwords and complete them manually after AiRoboform has inserted its part. This can thwart keyloggers, but the main thing is to prevent them getting on your system in the first place. One of the main ways that you can be infected is via email so there is a little trick that can prevent your system, and those of your friends if you tell them about it, from being used to relay trojans. Set up a contact in your address book with the name !000 and an email address of WORM ALERT !!!!!!!! . If a worm tries to replicate using the names in your address book it will fail to send to any of them with that in the list of recipients.

It is worth remembering that URLs can appear to be those of reputable organisations but there are many ways of masking the true identity of the site. Have a read of http://www.pc-help.org/obscure.htm to see more about URLs.

MadGamer · 21-11-2004, 12:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

Which hotmail account? .co.uk or ,com? It could just be an issue on the server that your account is based on???
Edit, just looked at the title fully. Your hotmail.com is playing up? How are you logging in? Web interface??

Well first i try to login to messenger and get the error. I then got to the hotmail website and try to login, and i get:

Quote:

You have made to many unsucessful sign in attemps for address@hotmail.com

Ill try ianatruths advice and see what happens.

nffc · 21-11-2004, 17:03

Welcome to MSN Interactive Online Technical Support

They can reset your password for you- you should have no probs proving you're you, they have things logged...

nffc · 21-11-2004, 19:11

Also I hate to say this but it is fairly common...

I did post something about it the other day...
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=20299