I Think Someone Is Using My e-Mail?

[Mikeyboy]

I have recieved a couple of messages on my Hotmail from Halifax and Lloyds TSB bank saying I have overdue payments and other scary stuff. It also says to click the link to confirm my details, I havent clicked anything in case it is some sort of scam.

The other suspicious thing is that I don't have anything to do with those banks, i'm 13 and only have one account with another bank, I never withdraw anything and they don't have my e-mail address.

What do I do?

[Rioet Sursa]

Tell police

[pakhet2006]

They're "phishing" emails. Basically, cons send out these fake emails to a ton of people, hoping a few who actually have accounts with that specific bank will be fooled into clicking on the links. The links lead them to a fake site set up to steal the person's info and money. Just delete these emails!

[Davy B]

These are what is called "phishing" [yes spelled like that]. Do not touch them and mark them as spam. They will pretend to be your bank [ they might get lucky that you bank with them] and ask you all sorts of questions such as account number and password/PIN.

Some people must fall for it

[JjZara]

It's probably spam (pishing); so don't worry about it. Don't click the link, because it most likely is a scam or will give your computer a virus. The idea of these e-mails is to gather information given out in these forms from unknowing and unsuspecting people, who fall prey to these e-mails.

If the e-mails persist however, and lead you to believe that they are genuine, phone the respective Bank's Customer Care, and confirm with them weather they are the ones actually sending out the e-mails or not.

You could download an anti-spam program, although with most e-mail accounts it comes built it. Don't forget, although irrelevant, always arm yourself with an up-to-date antivirus.

All in all, I would just mark as spam or junk and forget about it

I hope this has helped,
JjZara

[Sujendra]

just contact the person...

[LOL]

i have done this before signing up on a site and did not want them to send me e-mail so i just made a Random email not sure if it belong to anyone(i know it`s bad) or maybe just a error in their systems, but anyway contact the company by going to their site and find their email or number then just tell them the issue they will delete your email address out of their system. Nothing to worry about they cant do anything to you by having your email they`ll just spam you.They cant acces your number,address or other sensitive information. it might also be a scam

[sophie h]

This happened to me...

basicly, someone (most likely through a computer virus downloaded whilst streaming something or from a form you entered online) has hacked your email. The emails are sent to you to in hope that you will reply with sensitive information ie bank numbers etc. So DO NOT REPLY.

No one is using your email to open bank accounts, dont worry, they would need your id to do that
They cant get any more info (other than your email/ name) unless you tell them.

1.)Contact hotmail with the email addresses they are coming from as they need to know to block them

2.) upgrade your anti virus software

a few other good practice tip s for internet/information safety are

* Try not to to put personal info ie email/ tel number on facebook or twitter etc.If you chose to then make sure you change your privay setting to only people you know other wise anyone in the world has ur email etc

* IF you get called by a company (ie the bank) they often ask you for security details. Do not give them out unless you are sure who you are talking to.

ie some one might phone you and say " hi I am Mrs Jones from HSBC I am calling because I need to discuss a bank error with you, but can you please confirm some details so i know who you are ie name, dob, address etc? ' 99% of the time its real but not always. you can ask them to prove who they are or to give you their number so you can check it and phone them back.


Dont panic, i got emails posing as my friends in my address book directing me to dodgy sites because someone hacked my email. just contact your email provider and be careful with your personal info.

hope this helps x x x

[YahooAnisa]

Just hit Delete and "Spam" ONLY IF it's from an email address that is not a common email (ie: aol.com or hotmail.com) like - georgeweber@londonbank.uk or something odd you want to always go to spam.

Many scam emails are sent to legit and random email addresses to see if some sucker will fall for their accusations or demands.

[nicedress577]

I had this problem before. What I did was I ignored it, figuring if it was legit i'd get it again, then i'd call the bank and confirm if it was real. I did get it again but it was on an entirely different email account so it was pretty obvious it was a scam. All i'd do is mark it as spam and say hello trash bin! Be aware that there's all kinds of these scams out there. My favorite is the one from the Indian/African girl telling me her father was the owner of some large company (never tells which company) but was killed due to a recent civil war (And this war wasn't on the news why?) So anyway she tells me he has like a couple billion dollars in his bank account and now she wants to flee to America and will give me the money if I get her over here by telling her all my bank information and other personal things that i'd have to be brain dead to give out and than all I need to do is pick her up at the airport and get her an education. Wow, that's definitely not suspicious! A random foreign girl choose me, a guy who's never left the country or talked to anyone overseas, to give all this money to. Yeah and next i'll become King of the Mole People and rain down upon the surface with my army of mutated cheese unicorns!