topic Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address in Email

Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

AnnMM — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 21:03:54 GMT

My tiscali email has been hacked. Fake emails have been sent from an outlook address to friends of mine and if people email to my real address they get a reply from someone else with a different address (outlook - not used by me). I tried to sign in to my account online and my real email address with which I usually sign in is not being recognised by Talktalk so I can't change my password or access my account at all.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

Gondola — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 21:34:12 GMT

When you try to sign in to webmail what response do you see?

Select here: Sign in to TalkTalk Mail

Enter your full TalkTalk Mail tiscali email address and password, select Sign in.

And the Reset password now button in the help article Changing your email password will take you to password reset and recovery.

If the email address is still active on the TalkTalk Mail platform and you have set up password recovery options, in advance, that you recognise from the *****hints, then you can send your alternate email address a link or your mobile a 6-digit code to authorise a password reset.

Or are there no recovery options or are there option that you know are not yours?

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

AnnMM — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 21:54:25 GMT

When I type in the email address and the password on the Talktalk website to sign in I get this message: 'Sorry your email address is not recognised. Please try re-entering your email. If you haven't registered yet, register now.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

Gondola — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:05:55 GMT

You're not following my instructions.

Go back to what I asked you to do please.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

AnnMM — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:32:07 GMT

Apologies, I have been able to access the webmail via the Sign in to Talktalk mail button.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

Gondola — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:39:44 GMT

Good. Now check that the password recovery reset details are up to date.

Update your reset details is an option on the main settings menu (triple line icon on the top right header or cog icon on a mobile browser).

Check, update and Save the Reset details if needed, then use the Reset password now button in the help page Changing your email password.

My recommendation is to exceed the minimum required and use a password of 12-15 multicase letters and numbers and a symbol.

Then use the new password to sign in to webmail once more and let me know when that's done.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

AnnMM — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 22:59:00 GMT

I've checked that the reset details are up-to-date.

I can't reset the password at the moment because the site is under maintenance so I'll try again in the morning.

Many thanks for your patience.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

Gondola — Sat, 25 Feb 2023 23:13:16 GMT

Ah, yes, I see it's undergoing maintenance tonight.

OK. When the password is successfully changed then sign in to the mailbox with the new password.

Select here: Sign in to TalkTalk Mail

Enter the email address and new password, select Sign in.

Hackers may have set up a Filter rule, including an Auto forward which is a special filter rule, that's diverting mail to their outlook address.

To check, select the Main Settings menu icon  triple line icon top right on the blue header
(Mobile browser? use the desktop version)
Select Settings from the top of the menu
Select the inward facing arrowhead by Mail (or Email) in the left side panel
Select Filter Rules
If there's no rule defined, that's perfect
To delete a Filter rule including any Auto forward
select the Dustbin icon  to the right of the rule
The icon background will turn red 
To confirm you really want to delete this Filter rule
Select the blue Delete button

Best to delete anything you find to make sure there are absolutely no filter rules present.

Re: Email hacked and talktalk not recognising email address

Gondola — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 10:47:12 GMT

Just to close this topic as solved I'll summarise the PM exchanges we've had.

The user was using Windows Live Mail (WLM), now using Thunderbird.
WLM is inherently insecure allowing hackers to view mail and unencrypted passwords.
An Auto Forward was found in the mailbox confirming that the password had been compromised.
The Auto forward to the hackers outlook.com address has been deleted.
Password changed on a virus/malware free device.
User devices to be scanned for viruses, trojans and other password capturing malware.

I hope will serve as a cautionary warning that the use of insecure mail will allow intercepted mail passwords to be read and mailboxes compromised.

Any contacts of the user's mailbox could also be targeted by the hackers so it would be wise to let them know to be ultra-cautious of any unsolicited mail or mail pretending to be from the user. The sending address can be spoofed.