Should I risk accessing my previous e-mail account?

Question

I suspect a person I know was using info known about me and the old e-mail account to create a backdoor into my computer to drop trojan horse viruses until they killed my computer 3 times. How do I close that account without exposing my current info this person or can I access the account safely?

Answer 1

I'm not sure that closing your email account is necessary. Change your password to the account so that the person can't log on and avoid opening file attachments from people you don't know. Anything with a ".exe" ending should be avoided, if you're using a Windows machine. Unfortunately, MS Word and Excel macros can be used to write viruses that work on the Macintosh and on Windows, so be careful about opening documents in those formats also. As well, when you get emai from someone you don't know, or if you know it's spam, be careful about clicking on any part of the message if it's in HTML format (in other words, if the message looks like a web page). If you suspect a Trojan horse on your machine, again, assuming that you use Windows, "Ad Aware," "Spybot Search and Destroy," and Windows Defender can be used to scan your computer. Grisoft publishes a decent free-for-personal-use virus scanner called AVG Antivirus. Other answers to this question suggest web-based email like Hotmail, Yahoo, or Gmail, but using any one of those does not necessarily protect you from getting another virus or trojan either.

Answer 2

Stop using it . after a few months of inactivity it will be deleted by the provider.
If its a IP provided account report it and as well as with any attacks like this you should report this to that provder.
As anther precaoution use an web based maul like yahoo and never download any attached files.

Answer 3

If possible, you could try a web based email access instead of via outlook or something. Use a computer at the library or any hotel lobby. :-)