There's No Safety In The Internet Anymore...
By alicia812
@alicia812 (646)
Australia
November 26, 2009 9:05pm CST
More than two months ago, my Yahoo account suddenly became
inaccessible. I knew it was compromised and accessed by a third
person. I sent Yahoo Support Group an email but they just
referred me to another email/group. That group emailed me
back and asked me for the secret question and answer linked
to my account so they can help me resolve the problem. After
I gave it to them they did not reply back anymore.
I also received an email that my Paypal account was illegally
accessed by a third person. Luckily, all the money there were
already withdrawn at that time. Paypal admin advised me on what
to do like changing password to secure my account with them.
I tried several times to create another Yahoo account but
surprisingly I could not even create another. The codes that
I needed to enter for me to create new account seemed to be
invisible on the screen and the audio version of the codes I
could not even hear.
This morning, I was able to create a new Yahoo account after
more than two months. I also tried to access my old account
and I was able to do it. I logged out of Yahoo and logged in
again to test if I have already resolved the problems, and
to my surprise I was able to log in BUT when I check the profile
information in my account the personal details as well as contact
details we incorrect. They were modified, for example, the birth
date was different; the address was changed, like one digit was
deleted...
I came to a conclusion that I accessed the fake Yahoo page the
second time. I was on the real Yahoo page the first time; but
in the fake one the time I came back. I also noticed that the
new Yahoo account I created instantly appeared in the contact
emails straight away.
With things like hacking of accounts and identity theft happening
in the web, I will now make sure to delete all unnecessary accounts
I have like with the other social networking sites, and old
earning site accounts I have. I am also thinking of deleting my
old email accounts and come up with two fresh ones.
Have these ever happened to you? Share your experiences and thoughts.
Thanks.
6 people like this
14 responses
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
27 Nov 09
Yahoo because of its popularity is one of the email providers that hackers target and are able to penetrate. One vital information though that cannot be changed when you create an account is your birthdate. So its good that when you noticed that the birthdate was wrong, you logged out immediately. I don't really use my yahoo account for serious stuff like paypal. My yahoo accounts are my secondary accounts. I suggest that you run your computer a good sweep of your antivirus, better yet upgrade your current anti virus.
@glensgirl (66)
•
27 Nov 09
ohhh..scary...well im just newbabe in here so dont have money yet in my account..but better be more cautious...
@celebratelifeh (1142)
• China
27 Nov 09
yes. that's not completely safty everything on both the real life or internet life. and since the internet is virtual we mush pay more attention about that to avoid any leak to get us been scammed. but no been scared and if we pay attention to every step we take, then would be fine.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
27 Nov 09
My goodness, that sounds horrible. I have taken steps to protect my paypal account but not yahoo email.
So sorry to hear about your experience. I guess it's time for you to start using onscreen keyboard to type the password. In this way, those trojan horses are unable to capture the password.
@alicia812 (646)
• Australia
27 Nov 09
Hi scheng1. Do you mean a separate keyboard to be connected
to my laptop?
@alicia812 (646)
• Australia
28 Nov 09
I cannot find the onscreen keyboard under accessories.
However, everytime I log in to a site, my usernames pop
out on the screen and all I need to do is choose which
one is for that site. So I don't need to type on my
keyboard. Passwords were also automatically filled in
with dots so I don't need to type on the keyboard as well.
Thanks guys.
@veshgreend (50)
• Indonesia
27 Nov 09
what the...
i think that you must always clear your IP and protect yourself with AntiVirus.
i always use Avira, becuse thats the great Antvir an more lightly than the other
and i'm very2 sorry to hear that
@dhanasekart1984 (450)
• India
27 Nov 09
hi alicia, i really feel bad about your experience.. the easiest way out is change your os to linux, thats a virus free world, and cant be hacked.. go for gmail instead of yahoo..
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
27 Nov 09
Hi Alicia
Yahoo is not very secure at all I have not had an account with them for years now because of the Problems I have had gmail now for 4 years and it is great
Yes it is a good Idea to change your Password every so often including on your Email accounts as that will lessen the threat
I am sorry this has happened to you and I hope that it will not happen again to you
@skysuccess (8858)
• Singapore
27 Nov 09
alicia812,
I suspect your computer is being infected with a backdoor and/or keylogger where your crucial accounts are being illegally accessed. I am wondering if you have a security software program installed and if your operating system is being up to date.
About the phishing sites, you can consider bookmarking these site addresses to avoid unnecessary phishing or hacked sites. You may want to consider Xmarks online bookmarks - look it up.
There are many attacks nowadays and you will need to be very careful with your online activities. Better be safe than sorry.
Take care.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
27 Nov 09
That sounds like quite a bad experience! I had some problems with my own yahoo account some time back. I noticed that emails were being sent from my email box and it wasn't me that wrote them! I think that there's always a danger that the free email services will be hacked into. Still, I remain with yahoo and I have not had any further problems. Andrew
@alicia812 (646)
• Australia
28 Nov 09
Hi Andrew. I had enough with Yahoo and I am
giving it up. It's good you have never experienced
any problem again with them.
@corrycrystal (1775)
• Malaysia
29 Nov 09
Hi, Alicia!
That was really a bad experience of yours and quite inconvenience. It has never happened to me, which I hope will never ever happen to me! 
Based on your story, I agree that you have entered into a fake Yahoo site. That's why Yahoo always encouraged their users to create their own personalized sign-in seal. That way it's easier to identify whether you are in the original site or some phishing sites that are created to steal your password and personal information.
I guess we all have to be very careful next time especially when we sign in from other computers. Take care!
Based on your story, I agree that you have entered into a fake Yahoo site. That's why Yahoo always encouraged their users to create their own personalized sign-in seal. That way it's easier to identify whether you are in the original site or some phishing sites that are created to steal your password and personal information.
I guess we all have to be very careful next time especially when we sign in from other computers. Take care!
@danitykane (3183)
• Philippines
27 Nov 09
OMG! that's scares me. That's insane and really alarming. You mean to say there is a "fake" yahoo page?! Oh no! I have been checking yahoo almost every time. How do you now it's fake? Thank you for your information. Hope that bad person will be caught and hope yahoo must do something about it. Honestly, I am having weird log in since yesterday. I was trying to type the yahoo page like... www.yahoo.com but I can't get through it. Then after like many tries, I was able to get in the page.
That's insane and really alarming. You mean to say there is a "fake" yahoo page?! Oh no! I have been checking yahoo almost every time. How do you now it's fake? Thank you for your information. Hope that bad person will be caught and hope yahoo must do something about it. Honestly, I am having weird log in since yesterday. I was trying to type the yahoo page like... www.yahoo.com but I can't get through it. Then after like many tries, I was able to get in the page.@alicia812 (646)
• Australia
28 Nov 09
I have exactly the same experience as yours several
weeks back. Difficulty in logging in had happened
to me so many times before. I called it "fake" because
as I mentioned before there is another account name
appearing instead of my real one. There are modifications
in the username and the details I have with Yahoo.
@danitykane (3183)
• Philippines
28 Nov 09
Oh my....thanks for this information. I hope it won't happen again... Imagine if that person got your paypal account?! grrr... that would be so awful. Stay safe and Happy Lotting!
@borhan (1338)
• United States
27 Nov 09
Can you visualize, in how many sites you give your email id, password? Many a times, for hurry, we put same password in numerous places.
There is hardly any privacy in net. Facebook can use your fotos, do you think the level of privacy you are enjoying. All great cheaters have gathered in net. So, be careful. Be careful in giving your id and password to anywhere.
Take care.
happy mylotting.
@Lupin3d (225)
• Philippines
27 Nov 09
Hi Alicia. My only question is "Are you accessing your account with only one and the same computer everytime?" If you are, I would suggest for you to download a firewall, anti-malware, anti-spyware, and anti-virus. For Firewall, I will recommend for you to use outpost, malware and spyware would be adaware and spybot (You can use them both at the same time, and for virus nod 32. This will definitely help keep your computer protected. I would also suggest for you to only access website through direct links. (Simply type mail.yahoo.com on your address bar everytime.).
@kathy714 (128)
• China
27 Nov 09
Sorry about your experience. While bring us convenience, Internet also brings us trouble sometime. Anyway, this is a virtual world. We are more likely to be cheated without knowing. You know I have several accounts chatting with my friends online. Sometimes, I can not log on because my password was stolen and changed by others. I remember a few months ago, my friend asked me to transfer some money to him when we chatted on line. When I called to check with him, he was surprised to tell me that he was not online and he didn't know this. Then I realized that his account was stolen. This is really upsetting. We don't feel safe when there is always computer virus spreading on the internet.
@alicia812 (646)
• Australia
28 Nov 09
Hi kathy. Speaking of chatting, couple of my friends'
Yahoo Messenger were sending me messages in another
language. So everytime I am online I see them online
and messages keep on coming in. I had the idea it was
a virus so I never conversed. Sorry for that experience
of yours. Scams in the internet are all about money.
I can't wait until my computer technician sees my laptop.
I don't feel safe at all.
