I just got a message asking me if I may have a virus on my computer because someone got a weird email from my hotmail account. Here's my question, I don't even have my own computer at the moment, I've been using my brothers laptop (which is also a Mac) and a friend's computer at school. Is it possible that when I use her computer a virus got into my hotmail account? I know it didn't happen with either of the laptops I use...
Yeah, and what was super weird was the fact that I don't even have, nor did I ever have, this person's email address?
well here is the thing...dont open anything that you dont know who it is from, it could be a virus in the hotmail system that is travelling to you so that you think its a notice. by this i mean, someone put a virus in hotmail and then made them think that you were getting the email from hotmail (or whatever) and you could have a virus now...or not at all. anything could have happened.
Don't open anything with a wierd attachment for a few days!!! I got an email from the ITSS desk at SMU saying that my account was hacked.... there was an attachment that had a virus when I scanned it with Symantec. I can't wait to lose it on them on monday.
It is very weird, the only way you would have had access to my e-mail is from my RC profile, and a virus shouldn't be able to search out e-mails your pc sees on a website. I could see if I were in your address book but, not just an online form.
One of your friends computers could of gotten the virus. If they were using outlook by chance, the virus scans the computer and mails out random e-mails to those in the address book. So it's probably spoofing alot of the e-mails in the list. But as far as hotmail having viruses i don't know, i have had some weird incounters were i got some mail from myself that i never sent.
but you could be in someone elses address book as well as the other person....if their computer got a virus it could of mail the other person? i dunno if that is clear or not.....If your friends computer got infected and he/she had both of you in their address book, it could mail the other person pretending to be you.
LOL, one of those freaky occurances, unless a virus can be written to scan your recently viewed websites and check for e-mail accounts on them, then thats the only way. I have my account in my profiel on reality-check....but i have never seen a virus that could do that.
His email could of been in a forward that you eventually got or it is possible that it searched your cache for files and picked out email addys from inside there.
None os this makes any sense to me... I've never recived an email from him, I don't know anyone who knows him, other than on here?
You people have to realize one thing Just because you receive an email, it doesn't mean it was sent from the person it appears to have come from!
The simple answer Danger Girl is that you CANNOT get these viruses on your computer and that there isn't one now that works its way through hotmail servers without an Outlook client of some kind. So, another machine that has the virus sent the email and the virus is pretending it is you. You don't have to be in the address book. Your address simply has to have been received or sent or in an email.
I have been getting a bunch of virus e-mails to my work account, 2 to 3 daily. Most are coming from weird addresses I don't recognize...but a few I have noticed on R-C. The main purpose of telling her was to let her know, that it might have been her PC. BUt since it looks like its not, then problem solved :P