friend's yahoo e-mail seems to be infected

[Kali]

I'm getting spam from a friend's email address. Any advice for what we should do? Should I block him or report it somehow? I expect he would like to keep the address as he has had it for a long time but how do you solve this?

[CK_John]

1. It's very possible your machine is infected and your address book may be the problem

Spammers capture addresses and send out spam using those addresses. Maybe a 3rd party that has both your addresses is the culprit. See where I'm going anyone could be the problem, so....

scan your machine first for spy ware, have them scan their machines, also if you have another way to communicate agree on a word or phase to put in your subject line and block all others that don't have the coded phrase.

Here is my favorite tool, just download and copy to a flash drive or cd. If you need good spy ware.

http://www.superantispyware.com/portablescanner.html

[Kali]

3. arrgghh

yes I am updating malwarebytes right now (slow damn dial-up takes forEVER) and will run my scans
he's here on DU and I sent him the link to this thread so he can get the same info. good idea for code word in the subject line.

I of course, stupidly not only opened two of the emails but even clicked on the link in the first one because I really thought it was from him...d'oh!

I have malwarebytes and microshit security essentials - loading something else today would sure be a pain, do you think those two will catch whatever I might have picked up?

[CK_John]

5. Some tips for dial-up. I had dial-up for over 14yrs and one thing I found out was

you can build your transmission speed up with most ISP. They usually start with your last rated connection(9.2 up to 44 KB). So dial in and record your connect speed, you do not need to login yet, disconnect and redial right away, if your connect speed is higher than the first try, login and record speed for next connection session.

Also, dial-up is no longer an ISP favorite (if they have a local rep checkout what they can do to help you upgrade) also contact the phone rep in your area if they are not your ISP.

Another area to look at is line of sight for long distance wifi. If you have neighbors or built-up area within 3-5miles a solar repeater and a high gain antenna might be in range of a hotspot or maybe a sharing wifi with a neighbor.

Also there are (air usb cards) for about 50/month but you need cell tower reception.

[DaveJ]

2. Have they changed their password?

Accounts like Hotmail/Facebook/etc get hacked usually when spammers somehow figure out their the password.

Changing the password (preferably a strong alphanumeric password) usually fixes it.

Edit:

And as CK_John mentioned, it's better to check the PC for viruses first. The PC might have a sophisticated virus that will just detect the new password.

Even before that, it would be better to change the password on a different computer that is not infected.

[Kali]

4. I don't know if he did that, he said he "logged out" of yahoo

he will be looking at this thread so thanks for the advice from both of us.