Re: Hijacked e mail account

sue wrote:
Outlook Express is sending e mails which I have not written. I regularly receive 20 or so "undeliverable" messages each day, telling me that messages which I have apparently sent (but which I in fact did not try to send) are not deliverable. I presume my e mail account has been hijacked.
Is there anything I can do to stop this? Someone suggested deleting and reinstalling Outlook Express but I am concerned I will lose all my contacts and past correspondence. Is there an easier solution? I use Norton Anti Virus which is upto date and I also have the automatic Windows updater on
Any help gratefully received

Stop SPAM and other malware! Create two mail rules in OE.

_First rule:_

A. In "Select the conditions for your rule" click "Where the from line contains people", click "contains people", click Address Book, click the first name, shift-click the last, click "From" button, click OK.

B. In "Select the actions for your rule", click "Stop processing more rules". This will let everyone in your address book fall through to your Inbox.

C. Name the rule "Pass".

_Second rule:_

A. In "Select the conditions for your rule" click "For all messages"

B. In "Select the actions for your rule", click "Delete it".

C. Name the rule "Delete".

This deletes the unwanted emails to the Deleted Items folder; it doesn't permanently delete anything. You might want to set OE to delete the Deleted Items folder every time you close OE, but one disadvantage: You could have to close OE in a hurry sometimes before you have a chance to check for missed messages.

Advantages:

1. No SPAM or other malware! No amount of filtering by sender or subject matter will prevent spammers; they use a different subject and address every few days. But this setup prevents ALL SPAM from fictitious addresses.

2. Few Viruses! Only viruses from those who have your email address in their address book.

3. The biggest advantage, after checking through subject lines in the Deleted Items folder, you can delete all the spam, etc. without viewing them. Right-click "Deleted Items", click "Empty Deleted Items folder". This way, short of viewing the first email in the list, no other email is actually opened.

Disadvantages:

1. You'll have to look in the Deleted Items folder for blocked email. If you find a mail you actually want, just drag it into the Inbox till you add that address to the Pass filter.

2. To add addresses to the filter, you'll have to edit it, click "contains people", click "Address Book" again, and add any new addresses. That can be an occasional nuisance, but otherwise you'll be creating many mail rules for SPAM.

You can create a SPAM folder and send the blocked emails there, rather than select the "Delete it" option. Occasionally look in the folder for missed mails, then delete the remainder to the "Deleted Items" folder. (Press Shift/Delete to bypass the Deleted Items folder.)

--
Joe =o)
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