I think someone has hacked into my account and is sending regular e-mails from it. How do i stop it?

[Quietnumber172]

All of a sudden my entire contacts list keeps receiving e-mails from my account. This happens every day at around the same time. The e-mails have an attachment that looks like could be a virus. I dont know if someone/some programme has hacked into my account. I have changed my password but this is still happening. How can I stop it?

[Derek]

change your password

[Bumbleshank]

As already stated, change your password on that account. The person who's hacked it, likely has a list of account names and matching passwords... changing your password will stop access. Check your security questions and if possible, change them. Since you don't want the person in question resetting the password after you.

The big question is how did this happen? Yes it's possible that they simply cracked the email site itself, but more than likely, you let a script/program run on your computer that you shouldn't. I would do a virus/spyware scan on your local machine, look for any new Addons/toolbars in your browser, and check that you've not agreed to let any silly apps access your facebook data.

[Andrew]

Change your account telling your friends of the new one. Close the old one.

[Catrina]

deactivate it

[Kittysue]

This is usually caused by a malware infection on your computer
1 - change your password and make sure the alternate address is still yours
2 - run a full virus scan and delete all infected files
3 - run a full malware scan and delete all infected files. If you don't have one, download and run the free version of Malwarebytes. Your virus scan will not detect malware.
4 - after running both scans, delete your browsing history and cookies and empty your cache
5 - restart your computer

This should stop it