someone from outside has sent an IM from my account to my friends and contacts. What can I do?

Question

I have just been told by a friend that someone has sent an offline IM to my friends called scrapsender it was sent at 03.39:59am. I have sent a group im asking people not to open it incase it is a virus. how can someone use my account and how can I stop this from happening again?

Answer 1

One of three things happened.

1. Somebody guessed your password. Change it.

2. You have a virus on your machine that can spread through common IM clients. Some can. These use your own password as stored on your computer, so changing the password won't help. Scan for viruses and spyware.

3. Somebody else had access to your computer and sent the message. Many clients let you automatically log in without a password, so if somebody else in your house logged on they could send messages. You can turn off the autologin feature if you suspect this might be the case. You'll probably want to change your password as well.

Good luck.

Answer 2

1) Change your password.
2) Download and install Avast Antivirus, as it also has a tool to help protect against Instant Message virises.
3) Make sure you have a decent firewall, not the Windows firewall as it isn't adequate.

http://www.zonelabs.com Zone Alarm firewall
http://www.kerio.com Kerio firewall

Shields Up security site, check your firewall works
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

http://www.avast.com Avast Antivirus

http://www.ccleaner.com Cr*pcleaner Registry cleaner and privacy tool

Microsoft have two free online scanners that look for malware.
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
You can also download Microsofts free Windows Defender from the official Microsoft site, and the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Answer 3

Download AVG antivirus and do a system scan. install adaware and spybot search and destroy.

change your password

if you have automatic sign in available switch it off and do not store your password, as someone else may have had access to your computer and logged into your IM and sent it!

Answer 4

Change ur password and all ur Personal details so that hacker could not login again. Also check ur Alternate email id is correct or not.

Answer 5

I have just answered last q with
I dont know either
I am computer illiterate
so what is IM

Do you mean is it me or is it im
ime not sure once again what is IM

Answer 6

Try changing your password for a start, as it would seem someone has hacked your account.Then contact your isp..