help please someone has hacked into my account lgeo49@yahoo.com?

[Lyle]

someone has hacked into my account, and is sending bad things to my friends.

[steepflock999]

Nobody has hacked you, it is a sign that your computer is infected with malware (viruses, trojans, worms etc). You need to run scans to clean your computer.

Here is a website to tell you how to be safe from malware attacks on websites on such sites such as Facebook and Twitter: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how...ctices.php

For further safe internet practices keep reading:

Never click on links somebody sends you unless you are sure it can be trusted. This goes for email too. You might think it is from a friend but it is really not. Infected computers can target everybody on somebody's contact list. This article on how to avoid instant message viruses is informative: http://www.microsoft.com/protect/compute...es/im.mspx

Never open attachments that you are not expecting even if you think it is from a friend. Verify first because there is malware that can spread without the senders knowledge to all contacts.

OK now to getting your computer clean.

You need anti-virus protection with real-time protection (shields). One that is up to date and able to receive virus definitions every day. Here is where you can read about the best commercial anti-virus programs: http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ . You should have only one anti-virus program installed on your computer. Because anti-virus programs have real time protection more than one can cause conflicts and not work as well. And you must have one to protect your computer at all times. You can safely use online virus scanners to supplement your main anti-virus program. Here is a link for some free online scanners:
http://www.johannrain-softwareentwicklun...s_scan.htm

If you cannot afford to pay for an anti-virus protection then you should get one of the free anti-virus software available. They may not be as good as the top rated commercial ones but still can do a good job and are necessary if you are not going to buy a commercial antivirus.

You can read about the free ones here on these two links:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html . Look under “ Best Free Antivirus Software.”

But anti-virus protection is not enough. You also need anti-spyware protection that has real time protection. One of the top rated commercial ones is Webroot Spy Sweeper. Two of the best free spyware scanners are Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SUPERAntiSpyware. These will not have real time protection that commercial ones do. But you would use them to scan. You should use at least 2 free ones that do not have the real time protection. If you have a commercial anti-spyware program you can still use a couple free ones without real time protection to supplement. You can find free anti-spyware programs on the same link as above but look under “Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover.” On the same link you can look into free trojan scanners too.

It is also a good idea to clean out your computer's temporary files, including browser temp files and cookies. This is just in case malware is hiding there and it might also improve system performance. A great program for doing this, is CCleaner. http://www.ccleaner.com/ Be sure to read the FAQ page and other supporting pages so you know how to use it properly. Stick with the Cleaner part (broom icon). Only if you know how to protect yourself and use a registry scanner safely should you use the registry scanner part because if you do not know what you are doing you can screw up your computer. Computer novices should definitely skip the registry scanner function and stick to just the Cleaner part. Registry scanners are always Use At Your Own Risk.

An important point: If your computer gets infected, once your computer is clean and working normally just to be on the safe side turn off system restore and wait 30 seconds, turn it back on and create a new restore point. This way it gets rid of anything bad that might have gotten saved in a restore point and you have a clean restore point to use in the near future if needed. Do not turn it off until your computer is clean and working normally because you might need to use it if something goes wrong during the clean-up process. It is better to go back to an infected restore point if something goes wrong then to not be able to undo changes that were damaging. You can always scan again.

Be sure to also scan any external hard drive, flash drive, USB storage device that you use as well. I have even heard that iPods can be infected so be sure to scan those too.

One last important note. Often free security programs have to be manually updated while the commercial ones have automatic updates. It is vital that you keep your security programs up to date with the latest malware definitions or they will be useless.

[magnumgirl]

Your account has been compromised, Yahoo strongly suggests that you change your password NOW. Then it will stop. Run a virus scan. Alert your contacts not to click any links in the message because it is a virus/worm At one time someone sent you an infected email and they didn't know. Like those forward chain mails. It latched on to your contact list.