What To Do If Email Is Hacked ?
If your email is hacked, you and any of your email contacts could be at risk of having your identity stolen as well as having their bank accounts or credit cards fraudulently used. If you suspect that someone has hacked into your email account, you should act quickly to mitigate the damage.
Here are some suggestions for what to do in the event that your email account is hacked, including how to get rid of the hacker and how to better protect yourself in the future.
Change Your Credentials
The first thing you should do is regain control of your compromised email account. If the hacker has successfully locked you out of your email account, you may need to seek assistance from your email service provider. It is likely that in order to regain control of your email account and prove your identity, you will be required to provide a variety of information.
Warn Your Contacts
Inform your coworkers, friends, and family members who are on your email contact list that your email account has been compromised. Warn them to delete any suspicious messages that come from your account and that they should do so immediately.
Tell them not to open any applications, click on any links, share any credit card information with you, or send any money. It may be embarrassing to tell your contacts that you’ve been hacked, but providing them with this information could prevent them from falling for a scam.
If you are still able to access your account, please make the following changes as soon as possible:
Get A New Username And Password
Choose A Strong Password. It is recommended that secure passwords or passphrases contain at least 12 characters, including a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Always use a different password for each account you have.
Using a password manager makes it simple and safe to generate complicated passwords and to keep track of all of your login credentials. Password managers also offer convenience.
Change Your Security Questions
It’s possible that the hacker gained access to your account by attempting to guess the answers to the security questions. If you do not change these questions and answers, the hacker may attempt to access your account once more. Try to steer clear of picking questions with answers that are simple to guess or that can be found online.
For instance, you should avoid asking, “What is your mother’s middle name?” as a question. If your mother frequently uses all three of her given names on social media, including her first, middle, and last names.
Turn On Two Step Verification
This additional security measure, which is also known as multi-factor authentication, requires you to enter your username and password along with a temporary passcode in order to log into an account. In some cases, you may also be required to enter a one-time passcode.
Look For Signs Of Trouble
After you have regained control of the account, hackers may make changes to it that will either enable them to access your account again or allow them to continue defrauding other users.
Check Your Settings
If hackers gain access to your email account, they may alter the settings in a way that further compromises your data security. Make Sure That Your Email Signature Does Not Include Any Strange Links By Conducting a Search Through It.
Examine Your Emails To Ensure That They Are Not Being Automatically Forwarded To Another Person. Also, make sure to ask your email service provider for advice on how you can improve the safety of your account in any other ways.
Scan For Trouble
Examine your computer, mobile device, and/or tablet for any indications that it might be infected with a computer virus. These signs may include unfamiliar applications on your device, strange pop-up windows, sluggishness, problems with shutting down or restarting, and other similar things.
Protect Yourself For The Future
Finally, you have the ability to take a few easy precautions that will make it less likely that another email account will be hacked in the future.
Add Security Software
You should obtain security software from a reputable company and then install it on all of your electronic devices. If you are concerned about your email accounts being hacked, it is a good idea to consider trusted security software that offers comprehensive protection for your devices, online privacy, and identity.
If you are concerned about being hacked, it is a good idea to consider trusted security software. If you already have security software installed, check that you have the most recent update and then run it to check for malware, spyware, and viruses on your computer.
