how could he have done it, by installing a device into my laptop? how i do get rid of it?
My email account is being hacked into by an ex. how can i stop this?
Check your startup items using free winpatrol, check for spyware or keyloggers with superantispyware (best out there), make sure all windows updated have been installed, turn on your firewall.
Change ALL passwords everywhere (router, windows, email, I mean everywhere) to a strong password (8 characters minimum, at least one number, at least one capital letter, no words found in dictionary)
Reply:Keylogger for sure as others have mentioned. Also, keylogging is *highly* illegal and you can basically have your ex's **** in court.
Reply:Several ways someone can hack your account, especially someone close to you.
1) They know personal information about you. So they may be able to answer your security questions that are in place to recover your "forgotten password".
2) Your password is too generic. You should always change your password on occassion (3months or if you are feeling suspicious) and do not use the same password for everything! ( Don't have the same password for your email, your myspace, your finances ect) Do not use passwords that can be linked to you. For instance, don't use kids names, birthdays, names of loved ones, favorite items or themes ect. Always mix symbols, letters and numbers into passwords. Use something like t1ger$
3) Secure who has access to your laptop. You can set yourself up a user account and password protect it with a password other then what you use for your email.
Other ways to hack your email is:
Keyloggers. If he had access to your computer at some point, he could have installed a small program that records any keystroke you make including passwords. These can be hard to find as they typically wont show up on your computers add/remove list ect. My advice on this is backup any information you want to keep and do a system restore on it. There are keyloggers that will record your information and then email it secretly to another account! Also use programs like spybot to search and detect programs like this (doesn't always work but might) Some of the more common keyloggers have a hidden command such as cntrl+alt+shift+k to bring up the keyloggers menu.
There are also hardware keyloggers. These intercept information from your keyboard directly and can be found where your keyboard plugs into your tower.
There are lots of ways for people to hack your account, and as the saying goes..one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Immediately change your passwords, change the security options of your email accounts, security questions, answer ect. Backup needed information and restore your laptop to factory settings is my advice.
Reply:He probably knows your passwords. Change them.
Reply:prob. a key installer
Reply:He could have installed a software keylogger. Check with these:
Use both on-line scans. Both are free and excellent at detecting malware.
1. Scan for virus, worms etc. and remove (free online scan, no download) with BitDefender.
http://www.bitdefender.com/site/home/
2. Scan for trojans and spyware and remove (free online scan, no download) with Ewido.
http://www.ewido.net/en/
Good luck.
Reply:Change your password...and run a spyware detection software on your computer
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
Someone has cracked into several of my email accounts over the past year by answering my secret questions and then resetting my passwords.
Most recently they cracked my new AOL account, then had Gmail send them a "forgot password" link so they got access to my Gmail account. Next they did the same to get into my Facebook account.
I can't get into any of these accounts now b/c the passwords are changed. None of my friends have said they have gotten an email from my old addresses (if it's the same person, they never did that last time, just changed my password to be annoying).
How can I find out who did this? What are my legal options?
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
That wasn't necessarily hacking, but it is illegal. You would have to find out who did it before you do anything legally about it. You can try contacting Google and talking to them. Same with AOL, it will just depends on what they have in place for problems like this. If your security question was something easier, like your Mother's maiden name or Favorite Pet's Name and the this person was able to figure it out, then more than likely they know you. Try starting with people who would know this information.
Reply:I'm afraid there is no one that can do that. Make a new facebook, and report that person, and they can get that account deleted. But i dont know about the email, make sure you didnt put anything to personel in there, like Credit Card #'s and etc.
Most recently they cracked my new AOL account, then had Gmail send them a "forgot password" link so they got access to my Gmail account. Next they did the same to get into my Facebook account.
I can't get into any of these accounts now b/c the passwords are changed. None of my friends have said they have gotten an email from my old addresses (if it's the same person, they never did that last time, just changed my password to be annoying).
How can I find out who did this? What are my legal options?
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
That wasn't necessarily hacking, but it is illegal. You would have to find out who did it before you do anything legally about it. You can try contacting Google and talking to them. Same with AOL, it will just depends on what they have in place for problems like this. If your security question was something easier, like your Mother's maiden name or Favorite Pet's Name and the this person was able to figure it out, then more than likely they know you. Try starting with people who would know this information.
Reply:I'm afraid there is no one that can do that. Make a new facebook, and report that person, and they can get that account deleted. But i dont know about the email, make sure you didnt put anything to personel in there, like Credit Card #'s and etc.
Can you get hacked via email?
Ok, so these are probably stupid questions, but I'm concerned right now. You see, I got an email from someone I haven't talked to in like 7 years, but it was just a bunch of seemingly random letters inside. There weren't any attachments. I hit spam, logged out, logged back on, changed my password, deleted any relevant information in my email, then restarted my computer.
Can you get hacked via email?
If so, can the hacker do it without an attachment?
Am I worrying for nothing?
Can you get hacked via email?
If you were using the webmail interface then there was little if any danger. The fact that it looked like random letters indicates that it likely had an attachment. For whatever reason, it was apparently damaged. This could have been a failed email worm or just a screwed up attachment and you just marked your old friend as spam for some stupid reason. You might look into marking them as not being spam and sending an email back. Their computer might be infected.
Can you get hacked by email? Yes. There is any number of ways for it to happen. I won't list them, but lets just say I know a few and ways to to learn others. Possibly the easiest would be to fake an email from a friend and send you a "cool program" as an attachment.
If you view email as a web page inside outlook express or other mail program, then yes. The package is loaded from the web page links embedded in the email. If you view your email through a web page, it is less likely since the server is reading the page and you are viewing it indirectly. The webmail interface provides a thin layer of insulation.
Are you worrying for nothing? Yes. I think you overreacted. Since you didn't know what it was, you essentially ran away from it in an electronic sort of way. Fear of the unknown is possibly the most common fear. Education will remove that fear or at least reduce it. Next time don't report your friend as spam. Take a look at the email and see what it is.
A school computer? You are probably behind a NAT (network address translation) router/firewall that drops everything or nearly everything. Firefox is pretty good and immune to most attacks. AVG would most likely catch it if it was a worm or other malware. You'd have to be hit with a zero day attack or something nearly unknown in order for AVG or any other anti-virus to miss it.
I think I covered just about everything. Next time maybe you won't run away unless there really is a problem.
Shadow Wolf
Reply:Getting hacked via email can be possible in an indirect way. If you use mail on your computer, you should switch to online email such as Yahoo! which is way more safe. Opening mail is pretty harmless unless you open any attachment. Make sure your antivirus software is set to scan email and IM messages too. That is crucial.
Reply:yes even with out a attachment it work like a driveby thats why it's inportant to have e-mail security if you think you have been hit Here is a list of online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Reply:Interesting Question. I found it even more interesting that you received answers saying yes and no. I believe the answer is yes, you can get hacked via email and you are probably safe in this situation.
Reply:who do you think wanna to hack your computer?? ok maybe some 10 years old boy from china
no you can't be hacked via email, you dont need to worry about that !-)
Reply:No but if you send a encrypted email it can be edited by someone or read.
Reply:yes u can its a thing called a keylogger dont ever copy the random letters into something
Reply:Your worrying for nothing.
Can you get hacked via email?
If so, can the hacker do it without an attachment?
Am I worrying for nothing?
Can you get hacked via email?
If you were using the webmail interface then there was little if any danger. The fact that it looked like random letters indicates that it likely had an attachment. For whatever reason, it was apparently damaged. This could have been a failed email worm or just a screwed up attachment and you just marked your old friend as spam for some stupid reason. You might look into marking them as not being spam and sending an email back. Their computer might be infected.
Can you get hacked by email? Yes. There is any number of ways for it to happen. I won't list them, but lets just say I know a few and ways to to learn others. Possibly the easiest would be to fake an email from a friend and send you a "cool program" as an attachment.
If you view email as a web page inside outlook express or other mail program, then yes. The package is loaded from the web page links embedded in the email. If you view your email through a web page, it is less likely since the server is reading the page and you are viewing it indirectly. The webmail interface provides a thin layer of insulation.
Are you worrying for nothing? Yes. I think you overreacted. Since you didn't know what it was, you essentially ran away from it in an electronic sort of way. Fear of the unknown is possibly the most common fear. Education will remove that fear or at least reduce it. Next time don't report your friend as spam. Take a look at the email and see what it is.
A school computer? You are probably behind a NAT (network address translation) router/firewall that drops everything or nearly everything. Firefox is pretty good and immune to most attacks. AVG would most likely catch it if it was a worm or other malware. You'd have to be hit with a zero day attack or something nearly unknown in order for AVG or any other anti-virus to miss it.
I think I covered just about everything. Next time maybe you won't run away unless there really is a problem.
Shadow Wolf
Reply:Getting hacked via email can be possible in an indirect way. If you use mail on your computer, you should switch to online email such as Yahoo! which is way more safe. Opening mail is pretty harmless unless you open any attachment. Make sure your antivirus software is set to scan email and IM messages too. That is crucial.
Reply:yes even with out a attachment it work like a driveby thats why it's inportant to have e-mail security if you think you have been hit Here is a list of online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Reply:Interesting Question. I found it even more interesting that you received answers saying yes and no. I believe the answer is yes, you can get hacked via email and you are probably safe in this situation.
Reply:who do you think wanna to hack your computer?? ok maybe some 10 years old boy from china
no you can't be hacked via email, you dont need to worry about that !-)
Reply:No but if you send a encrypted email it can be edited by someone or read.
Reply:yes u can its a thing called a keylogger dont ever copy the random letters into something
Reply:Your worrying for nothing.
My email account is being hacked into by an ex. how can i stop this?
how could he have done it, by installing a device into my laptop? how i do get rid of it?
My email account is being hacked into by an ex. how can i stop this?
Check your startup items using free winpatrol, check for spyware or keyloggers with superantispyware (best out there), make sure all windows updated have been installed, turn on your firewall.
Change ALL passwords everywhere (router, windows, email, I mean everywhere) to a strong password (8 characters minimum, at least one number, at least one capital letter, no words found in dictionary)
Reply:Keylogger for sure as others have mentioned. Also, keylogging is *highly* illegal and you can basically have your ex's **** in court.
Reply:Several ways someone can hack your account, especially someone close to you.
1) They know personal information about you. So they may be able to answer your security questions that are in place to recover your "forgotten password".
2) Your password is too generic. You should always change your password on occassion (3months or if you are feeling suspicious) and do not use the same password for everything! ( Don't have the same password for your email, your myspace, your finances ect) Do not use passwords that can be linked to you. For instance, don't use kids names, birthdays, names of loved ones, favorite items or themes ect. Always mix symbols, letters and numbers into passwords. Use something like t1ger$
3) Secure who has access to your laptop. You can set yourself up a user account and password protect it with a password other then what you use for your email.
Other ways to hack your email is:
Keyloggers. If he had access to your computer at some point, he could have installed a small program that records any keystroke you make including passwords. These can be hard to find as they typically wont show up on your computers add/remove list ect. My advice on this is backup any information you want to keep and do a system restore on it. There are keyloggers that will record your information and then email it secretly to another account! Also use programs like spybot to search and detect programs like this (doesn't always work but might) Some of the more common keyloggers have a hidden command such as cntrl+alt+shift+k to bring up the keyloggers menu.
There are also hardware keyloggers. These intercept information from your keyboard directly and can be found where your keyboard plugs into your tower.
There are lots of ways for people to hack your account, and as the saying goes..one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Immediately change your passwords, change the security options of your email accounts, security questions, answer ect. Backup needed information and restore your laptop to factory settings is my advice.
Reply:He probably knows your passwords. Change them.
Reply:prob. a key installer
Reply:He could have installed a software keylogger. Check with these:
Use both on-line scans. Both are free and excellent at detecting malware.
1. Scan for virus, worms etc. and remove (free online scan, no download) with BitDefender.
http://www.bitdefender.com/site/home/
2. Scan for trojans and spyware and remove (free online scan, no download) with Ewido.
http://www.ewido.net/en/
Good luck.
Reply:Change your password...and run a spyware detection software on your computer
health survey
My email account is being hacked into by an ex. how can i stop this?
Check your startup items using free winpatrol, check for spyware or keyloggers with superantispyware (best out there), make sure all windows updated have been installed, turn on your firewall.
Change ALL passwords everywhere (router, windows, email, I mean everywhere) to a strong password (8 characters minimum, at least one number, at least one capital letter, no words found in dictionary)
Reply:Keylogger for sure as others have mentioned. Also, keylogging is *highly* illegal and you can basically have your ex's **** in court.
Reply:Several ways someone can hack your account, especially someone close to you.
1) They know personal information about you. So they may be able to answer your security questions that are in place to recover your "forgotten password".
2) Your password is too generic. You should always change your password on occassion (3months or if you are feeling suspicious) and do not use the same password for everything! ( Don't have the same password for your email, your myspace, your finances ect) Do not use passwords that can be linked to you. For instance, don't use kids names, birthdays, names of loved ones, favorite items or themes ect. Always mix symbols, letters and numbers into passwords. Use something like t1ger$
3) Secure who has access to your laptop. You can set yourself up a user account and password protect it with a password other then what you use for your email.
Other ways to hack your email is:
Keyloggers. If he had access to your computer at some point, he could have installed a small program that records any keystroke you make including passwords. These can be hard to find as they typically wont show up on your computers add/remove list ect. My advice on this is backup any information you want to keep and do a system restore on it. There are keyloggers that will record your information and then email it secretly to another account! Also use programs like spybot to search and detect programs like this (doesn't always work but might) Some of the more common keyloggers have a hidden command such as cntrl+alt+shift+k to bring up the keyloggers menu.
There are also hardware keyloggers. These intercept information from your keyboard directly and can be found where your keyboard plugs into your tower.
There are lots of ways for people to hack your account, and as the saying goes..one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Immediately change your passwords, change the security options of your email accounts, security questions, answer ect. Backup needed information and restore your laptop to factory settings is my advice.
Reply:He probably knows your passwords. Change them.
Reply:prob. a key installer
Reply:He could have installed a software keylogger. Check with these:
Use both on-line scans. Both are free and excellent at detecting malware.
1. Scan for virus, worms etc. and remove (free online scan, no download) with BitDefender.
http://www.bitdefender.com/site/home/
2. Scan for trojans and spyware and remove (free online scan, no download) with Ewido.
http://www.ewido.net/en/
Good luck.
Reply:Change your password...and run a spyware detection software on your computer
health survey
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
Someone has cracked into several of my email accounts over the past year by answering my secret questions and then resetting my passwords.
Most recently they cracked my new AOL account, then had Gmail send them a "forgot password" link so they got access to my Gmail account. Next they did the same to get into my Facebook account.
I can't get into any of these accounts now b/c the passwords are changed. None of my friends have said they have gotten an email from my old addresses (if it's the same person, they never did that last time, just changed my password to be annoying).
How can I find out who did this? What are my legal options?
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
That wasn't necessarily hacking, but it is illegal. You would have to find out who did it before you do anything legally about it. You can try contacting Google and talking to them. Same with AOL, it will just depends on what they have in place for problems like this. If your security question was something easier, like your Mother's maiden name or Favorite Pet's Name and the this person was able to figure it out, then more than likely they know you. Try starting with people who would know this information.
Reply:I'm afraid there is no one that can do that. Make a new facebook, and report that person, and they can get that account deleted. But i dont know about the email, make sure you didnt put anything to personel in there, like Credit Card #'s and etc.
Most recently they cracked my new AOL account, then had Gmail send them a "forgot password" link so they got access to my Gmail account. Next they did the same to get into my Facebook account.
I can't get into any of these accounts now b/c the passwords are changed. None of my friends have said they have gotten an email from my old addresses (if it's the same person, they never did that last time, just changed my password to be annoying).
How can I find out who did this? What are my legal options?
Help! Someone has hacked my email?
That wasn't necessarily hacking, but it is illegal. You would have to find out who did it before you do anything legally about it. You can try contacting Google and talking to them. Same with AOL, it will just depends on what they have in place for problems like this. If your security question was something easier, like your Mother's maiden name or Favorite Pet's Name and the this person was able to figure it out, then more than likely they know you. Try starting with people who would know this information.
Reply:I'm afraid there is no one that can do that. Make a new facebook, and report that person, and they can get that account deleted. But i dont know about the email, make sure you didnt put anything to personel in there, like Credit Card #'s and etc.
Can you get hacked via email?
Ok, so these are probably stupid questions, but I'm concerned right now. You see, I got an email from someone I haven't talked to in like 7 years, but it was just a bunch of seemingly random letters inside. There weren't any attachments. I hit spam, logged out, logged back on, changed my password, deleted any relevant information in my email, then restarted my computer.
Can you get hacked via email?
If so, can the hacker do it without an attachment?
Am I worrying for nothing?
Can you get hacked via email?
If you were using the webmail interface then there was little if any danger. The fact that it looked like random letters indicates that it likely had an attachment. For whatever reason, it was apparently damaged. This could have been a failed email worm or just a screwed up attachment and you just marked your old friend as spam for some stupid reason. You might look into marking them as not being spam and sending an email back. Their computer might be infected.
Can you get hacked by email? Yes. There is any number of ways for it to happen. I won't list them, but lets just say I know a few and ways to to learn others. Possibly the easiest would be to fake an email from a friend and send you a "cool program" as an attachment.
If you view email as a web page inside outlook express or other mail program, then yes. The package is loaded from the web page links embedded in the email. If you view your email through a web page, it is less likely since the server is reading the page and you are viewing it indirectly. The webmail interface provides a thin layer of insulation.
Are you worrying for nothing? Yes. I think you overreacted. Since you didn't know what it was, you essentially ran away from it in an electronic sort of way. Fear of the unknown is possibly the most common fear. Education will remove that fear or at least reduce it. Next time don't report your friend as spam. Take a look at the email and see what it is.
A school computer? You are probably behind a NAT (network address translation) router/firewall that drops everything or nearly everything. Firefox is pretty good and immune to most attacks. AVG would most likely catch it if it was a worm or other malware. You'd have to be hit with a zero day attack or something nearly unknown in order for AVG or any other anti-virus to miss it.
I think I covered just about everything. Next time maybe you won't run away unless there really is a problem.
Shadow Wolf
Reply:Getting hacked via email can be possible in an indirect way. If you use mail on your computer, you should switch to online email such as Yahoo! which is way more safe. Opening mail is pretty harmless unless you open any attachment. Make sure your antivirus software is set to scan email and IM messages too. That is crucial.
Reply:yes even with out a attachment it work like a driveby thats why it's inportant to have e-mail security if you think you have been hit Here is a list of online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Reply:Interesting Question. I found it even more interesting that you received answers saying yes and no. I believe the answer is yes, you can get hacked via email and you are probably safe in this situation.
Reply:who do you think wanna to hack your computer?? ok maybe some 10 years old boy from china
no you can't be hacked via email, you dont need to worry about that !-)
Reply:No but if you send a encrypted email it can be edited by someone or read.
Reply:yes u can its a thing called a keylogger dont ever copy the random letters into something
Reply:Your worrying for nothing.
Can you get hacked via email?
If so, can the hacker do it without an attachment?
Am I worrying for nothing?
Can you get hacked via email?
If you were using the webmail interface then there was little if any danger. The fact that it looked like random letters indicates that it likely had an attachment. For whatever reason, it was apparently damaged. This could have been a failed email worm or just a screwed up attachment and you just marked your old friend as spam for some stupid reason. You might look into marking them as not being spam and sending an email back. Their computer might be infected.
Can you get hacked by email? Yes. There is any number of ways for it to happen. I won't list them, but lets just say I know a few and ways to to learn others. Possibly the easiest would be to fake an email from a friend and send you a "cool program" as an attachment.
If you view email as a web page inside outlook express or other mail program, then yes. The package is loaded from the web page links embedded in the email. If you view your email through a web page, it is less likely since the server is reading the page and you are viewing it indirectly. The webmail interface provides a thin layer of insulation.
Are you worrying for nothing? Yes. I think you overreacted. Since you didn't know what it was, you essentially ran away from it in an electronic sort of way. Fear of the unknown is possibly the most common fear. Education will remove that fear or at least reduce it. Next time don't report your friend as spam. Take a look at the email and see what it is.
A school computer? You are probably behind a NAT (network address translation) router/firewall that drops everything or nearly everything. Firefox is pretty good and immune to most attacks. AVG would most likely catch it if it was a worm or other malware. You'd have to be hit with a zero day attack or something nearly unknown in order for AVG or any other anti-virus to miss it.
I think I covered just about everything. Next time maybe you won't run away unless there really is a problem.
Shadow Wolf
Reply:Getting hacked via email can be possible in an indirect way. If you use mail on your computer, you should switch to online email such as Yahoo! which is way more safe. Opening mail is pretty harmless unless you open any attachment. Make sure your antivirus software is set to scan email and IM messages too. That is crucial.
Reply:yes even with out a attachment it work like a driveby thats why it's inportant to have e-mail security if you think you have been hit Here is a list of online virus scans Safety.Live.com (That one is Microsoft's) Symantec.com Housecall.TrendMicro.com Comodo.com...Comodo.com offers free manual disinfection and a free security suite from the makers of Comodo Firewall Pro...Avira.com now offers free antivirus and antispyware...besure to turn off onboard antivirus before starting online scanner
Reply:Interesting Question. I found it even more interesting that you received answers saying yes and no. I believe the answer is yes, you can get hacked via email and you are probably safe in this situation.
Reply:who do you think wanna to hack your computer?? ok maybe some 10 years old boy from china
no you can't be hacked via email, you dont need to worry about that !-)
Reply:No but if you send a encrypted email it can be edited by someone or read.
Reply:yes u can its a thing called a keylogger dont ever copy the random letters into something
Reply:Your worrying for nothing.
I've had a spam email from my own email address which i didn't send. Does this mean my email has been hacked?
What can i do about it? I don't want to change my email address as i'm self employed and rely on it for work. But equally i don't want the work contacts in my address book to get email from me about Viagra. Help!
I've had a spam email from my own email address which i didn't send. Does this mean my email has been hacked?
got that at least twice a day. Don't worry. How they do that? I think it is a simple programme. On my account at yahoo I can change my Senders part. As a self employed myself I use 3 different headers of my e-mails. they all end with yahoo.com. Really, I am so annoyed with all that rubbish in my mail box and would like to propose some regulations on all that dear Friend, Beloved , Lottery winners and business propositions. At present all that I can do; SPAM IT!
Reply:Hi there, not to worry, you've not been hacked.
What they do is they send "harvesters" out onto the internet, also called spiders or bots. They go round the net on popular websites where people tend to post their email addresses, such as forums and places like Yahoo answers. Whenever they find an @ sign, they copy the email address and save it (automatically).
So for instance if they found bob@bob.com - then they use that email address to send a viagra offer or some other useless piece of spam to. To foil any attempts at blockage from a spam filter, they use it as the SENDER as well. So it goes to bob@bob.com but is sent from bob@bob.com - most new spam filters are clever and will flag this, but it seems yours isn't.
So in other words, don't be alarmed, happens all the time. To prevent this from happening, get an anti-spam piece of software like norton antispam or windowswasher. I think there are a number of free antispams as well, do a quick google for "antispam +freeware" and I'm sure you'll get good results. Good luck!
I've had a spam email from my own email address which i didn't send. Does this mean my email has been hacked?
got that at least twice a day. Don't worry. How they do that? I think it is a simple programme. On my account at yahoo I can change my Senders part. As a self employed myself I use 3 different headers of my e-mails. they all end with yahoo.com. Really, I am so annoyed with all that rubbish in my mail box and would like to propose some regulations on all that dear Friend, Beloved , Lottery winners and business propositions. At present all that I can do; SPAM IT!
Reply:Hi there, not to worry, you've not been hacked.
What they do is they send "harvesters" out onto the internet, also called spiders or bots. They go round the net on popular websites where people tend to post their email addresses, such as forums and places like Yahoo answers. Whenever they find an @ sign, they copy the email address and save it (automatically).
So for instance if they found bob@bob.com - then they use that email address to send a viagra offer or some other useless piece of spam to. To foil any attempts at blockage from a spam filter, they use it as the SENDER as well. So it goes to bob@bob.com but is sent from bob@bob.com - most new spam filters are clever and will flag this, but it seems yours isn't.
So in other words, don't be alarmed, happens all the time. To prevent this from happening, get an anti-spam piece of software like norton antispam or windowswasher. I think there are a number of free antispams as well, do a quick google for "antispam +freeware" and I'm sure you'll get good results. Good luck!
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