# Gmail accounts compromised **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 22, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985 "2010-04-22T14:54:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/1 "2010-04-22T14:54:59Z")
[And used to send spam.](http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/194635/drugdealing_spammers_hit_gmail_accounts.html) This happened to me a few days ago. I had a bunch of bounced back emails that I never sent. Thinking maybe my email address had just been spoofed, I check my actual sent folder. Sure enough, a bunch of outgoing emails. It looks like they’re exploiting some as yet unknown bug in the Gmail mobile system. So if you get an email from someone you know, with a link to a Canadian drug company, just ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/2 "2010-04-22T15:17:46Z")
Yeah, this happened to a friend of mine. “She” sent an email to a mailing list we’re on, with a really cryptic subject line; I took one look at the message text and the link and knew it was not really from her. It was to a casino though, not drugs (I guess you can buy the drugs in the back alley behind the casino!). Some of the other folks on the mailing list _did_ click on the link. Have they learned _nothing_??? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/3 "2010-04-22T15:24:27Z")
> [@Electronic\_Chaos](#): > > [And used to send spam.](http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/194635/drugdealing_spammers_hit_gmail_accounts.html) > > This happened to me a few days ago. I had a bunch of bounced back emails that I never sent. Thinking maybe my email address had just been spoofed, I check my actual sent folder. Sure enough, a bunch of outgoing emails. > > It looks like they’re exploiting some as yet unknown bug in the Gmail mobile system. > > **So if you get an email from someone you know, with a link to a Canadian drug company, just ignore it**. You’re just realizing this now? ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/4 "2010-04-22T15:37:13Z")
Happened to me and now Google has locked my Gmail account, which is my primary e-mail and has years of stuff in it. I’m not a happy camper today. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/5 "2010-04-22T15:41:56Z")
Shit! I hope you get your account back! ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/6 "2010-04-22T16:04:31Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You’re just realizing this now? Well _I_ know this, but I got several replies from people wondering why I was sending them there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/7 "2010-04-22T16:12:52Z")
This happened to my girlfriend over the weekend. A couple of emails were sent Friday night, but there weren’t any others. She did change her password when she saw what had happened. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/8 "2010-04-22T22:30:50Z")
Yip. Exactly what I was warning about in the safe password thread. It happened to me on my Yahoo! account. And, yes, changing your password should be sufficient. Yahoo flat out told me to do it, saying they had detected unusual activity from my account, and that it was likely compromised. I’ve had no problems since eliminating English words from my password. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gmail-accounts-compromised/536985/9 "2010-04-23T13:46:40Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Shit! I hope you get your account back! Thanks. What’s really frustrating is that I can’t get Google to respond at all. If all my stuff is going to be taken from me, it’d be nice to be told why…