# Warning: Somebody got into my e-mail!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 8, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287 "2000-04-08T19:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/1 "2000-04-08T19:49:00Z")
A few days ago I logged onto my e-mail service to see if I had any messages. Only one appeared–with my name where the sender’s e-mail address should be. The message included the statements “I am not a hacker” and “It does not matter who I am”; the sender said my Inbox messages had been sent to the Drafts folder (it turned out they had) and I should change my password (I did). Has MSN’s “Hotmail” been attacked by a particularly evil hacker, or did Hotmail itself do this to me? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shagrath\_Borgir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@Shagrath\_Borgir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagrath_Borgir)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/2 "2000-04-08T19:53:00Z")
Cool, my virus worked! 🙂 (Just kidding… ;)) * * * “Through twilight, darkness and moonrise My scarlet tears will run As stolen blood and whispered love Of fantasies undone” ---
**Author:** ![billehunt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@billehunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billehunt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/3 "2000-04-09T03:12:00Z")
I wondered why you were sending me those steamy letters. ---
**Author:** ![TaleraRis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@TaleraRis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaleraRis)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/4 "2000-04-09T03:16:00Z")
I use Hotmail and my account is just fine. So Hotmail didn’t do it to you. Did you change your password after the big attack here? If you use the same password there as here, that might be how they got in. * * * I rode Omni in Springfield, IL ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/5 "2000-04-10T05:10:00Z")
If you have a Hotmail account, you can get all sorts of email crap like that & should just ignore it. They love to send that crap [the kids]. The biggest fraud you might get from Hotmail kids is one where they promise to give you passwords of other hotmail accounts but you have to email them yours first to activate some fake system tool. Its all baloney & just some lame attempt to get your PW. Probably works well with AOLers … ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/6 "2000-04-10T05:23:00Z")
**dougie\_monty** , does anyone else have access to your computer? I don’t know how Hotmail is set up, but with my mail, my draft and inbox files are physically on my machine. No one can move them without actually being on my computer. (I have several work-related mail accounts where the mail all stays on the big server in the sky, but I don’t know how Hotmail works, hence my question.) If Hotmail actually sits on your computer, I’d look for nasty roommates before I started worrying about the mail provider. * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/7 "2000-04-09T19:49:00Z")
Report it to **[abuse@hotmail.com](mailto:abuse@hotmail.com)**. Back before there was the bulk mail folder, I got a few messages like “click here for something interesting” or some similar nonsense. Usually, I instantly delete all mail not specifically addressed to me, but one of these I did open. That took me to a page that still had all of the MSN & hotmail decorations on it- it looked just like my regular inbox- but it said “your session has timed-out; please re-enter your password to continue”. What a load of BS, I’ve had my hotmail in box opened for hours at a time and never timed-out before. I forwarded the message to [abuse@hotmail.com](mailto:abuse@hotmail.com) and a couple of days later I got a message back saying they had closed the account of the person who had sent me that obvious hack and reported the incident to the person’s ISP. Make sure you forward the original message- don’t just send a message to hotmail saying that so-and-so attempted to steal your password. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/8 "2000-04-10T05:06:00Z")
Tomndeb, i think you may be mistaken. If you use Outlook Express 5 you can access Hotmail with it but it simply mirrors what’s on the server. If I have your account name and password I can acces the hotmail server and move or delete or whatever from any computer. Try it’. That’s what I do when I travel and use cybercafes. It seems to me someone got hold of his password and accessed his account ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/9 "2000-04-10T05:12:00Z")
Actually, since I prefer that my mail be limited to my computer, I think I’ll just avoid Hotmail. I don’t move around, so I don’t get an advantage by keeping the data centrally. (I don’t think it’s wrong or bad, but I can control the contents of my cpu and harddrive a lot easier than I can control some corporate server.) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2000, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/10 "2000-04-16T23:50:00Z")
Thanks, Opus, I’ll check that out. 🙂 I don’t own a computer. I use them at Kinko’s or a local college library; I’m an alumnus. After I got that message I changed my password and now click on “Increased Security.” I don’t expect any more surprises. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2000, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/11 "2000-04-17T00:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I wondered why you were sending me those steamy letters. Is that an invitation, Billiehunt? 😉 😃😛 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/12 "2000-04-21T23:02:00Z")
ADDENDUM: I sometimes visit an employment service (“One-Stop”) that has public computers. I had failed to log off Hotmail properly and actually found my e-mail address on the drop-down list below the Location line! In other words I hadn’t closed the e-mail in the first place! :o ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/13 "2000-04-23T05:10:00Z")
dougie, it is not that you did not log out, it is that IE5 will remember anything you type into any form and you need to clear it tools/internet options / content / autocomplete / clear you should always do this after using any computer that may be accessed by someone else ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2000, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warning-somebody-got-into-my-e-mail/16287/14 "2000-04-23T22:41:00Z")
Right on, Sailor. Ve Get Too Soon Oldt Und Too Late Schmardt. :o