Why am I sending spam emails and why are all my folders empty in my Yahoo account?

[Ann]

My email account has sent out some spam emails. This morning I received the following email from Yahoo:

Dear User,

Our systems detected an error in your account. We strongly advise you to update your account to avoid suspension or de-activation.

Click on the link below to update and activate your account security.

CLICK HERE

Thank You.
Yahoo ©.

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Yahoo! Copyright © 2014 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

This looked entirely legitimate so I clicked and confirmed my email address. However I started getting messages from other people by telephone that I was sending out emails about the Ukraine.

I normally log on to my emails through Windows Mail. I have just logged straight on to Yahoo and all the folders are empty! I have sent myself emails from my Google and Virgin account, but they do not come into my Yahoo account except through Windows Mail, even if it is closed down. I have no names in the contact list, although if I start to write an email I can access contacts by putting in their initial letter.

[Kittysue]

SCAM
That's NOT from Yahoo, it's a phishing scam to hack your account
1 - ALL emails regarding your account will be from an @cc.yahoo-inc.com address, NEVER @yahoo.com or anything else
2 - ALL emails regarding your account will ALWAYS have a purple Y! logo to the left of the sender’s name in your Inbox
3 - ALL emails regarding your account will always address you by your name (i.e. Dear John, Dear Mary), never a generic greeting (Dear Customer, Dear Yahoo Account Holder, Dear Valid User, etc), your email address or no greeting at all
4 - Yahoo will NEVER ask for any personal details in an email and will never ask you to click on a link to ‘verify’ or ‘validate’ or ‘update’ your account.


If you clicked and confirmed your email, you just gave your login details to Ukrainian scammers who are now not only spamming your Contacts, they are also going through every email you have to see if there are any financial statements or other personal information they can use to steal your money and identity

You need to change your password ASAP then
Fill out a Mail Restore form ASAP http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=en...id=SLN2552 you only have a few days to restore lost mail
Fill out a Contacts Restore http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=en...id=SLN2160

Also do all of the following to protect your privacy and identity
- follow the instructions on this page for disabling forwarding http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=en...=SLN3525to make sure your emails are not all being forwarded to the hacker’s address
- make sure the alternate email address is still yours and you have a security question and answer set
- until you get your Contacts back find some other way to reach them - Facebook, twitter, text, etc -- to inform them that your account was hacked. They will be getting an email from the scammer claiming to be you needing to borrow money for some emergency
- URGENT*** if you used your same username and password for ANY other site, you need to immediately change the passwords on ALL of those accounts. Unfortunately 80% of people use the same username and password for everything. Hackers know this and once they know your email login they'll try those same details on Facebook, Paypal, Twitter, Linkedin, Amazon, EBay, every major bank and credit card company, etc to try and hack those accounts as well
- if your emails contained ANY financial information (Paypal receipts, online banking statement, credit card bills, etc) you need to IMMEDIATELY inform these financial institutions. You will have to freeze your bank and credit card accounts and get new account numbers and cards sent to you. Set up a new email address to change your Paypal account. These hackers will go through all of your emails to see if there is anything they can use to steal your money and identity
- also consider filing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus -- read the FTC website http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/fea...tity-theft