I think I've been hacked...

[brockett]

A few nights ago I went to check my email when a brief message came up saying that my emails were all being forwarded. Everything had been fine just a few hours before.

So I went to settings and saw that they were being forwarded to REMOVED@gmail.com.I unchecked the box to stop the forwarding. Then I changed the password on the account. It seems to have been ok these past few days since it happened, but a thought just occurred to me...maybe they never logged out and they are still logged into my account, because if they haven't needed to re-enter my password, will they still have access?

I'm not sure what to do now. At the same time as this happened they also attempted to change the password on both my fb and amazon accounts. I changed the passwords on those too thinking that was enough. I also have two-factor authentication set up on amazon now.

Can you do two-factor on virgin email? Is it too late if they got in and set up forwarding and might they still be logged in?

Thanks.

[MOD EDIT: Personal and private information has been removed from this post. Please do not post personal or private information in your public posts. Please review the Forum Guidelines]

[brockett]

PS I decided to log out of email on both my ipad and computer to make sure my new password worked, but my ipad insisted on me using fingerprint with no option of password, and my computer only had biometrics too - facial recognition!

[Kain_W]

Hi brockett,

Thanks for your post and welcome back to the community.

Apologies for the issues faced here, so we would have authentification options for our apps when signing in.

From adjusting the password, you would need to sign back in have you tried to sign in through a different browser?

Let us know,

[brockett]

Thank you for your answer.

I signed out and tried another browser, but I couldn't find anywhere that I could log into the email apart from going through the main virgin media website and entering my password there. But that isn't the specific password to my email account, just my main account password.

I then logged out and went back to my usual browser. I closed down the camera so it couldn't ask me for facial recognition, but then it only asked me for facial recognition, a pin, or a security key. I have no idea what a pin or security key would be, there was no option for a password, so I just had to turn my camera back on to get into my email again. I still haven't had the opportunity to test the new email password that I set over the phone.

I'm finding the virgin email very hard to deal with. It's so hard to get into by normal means. I just don't know if my account is secure since the person tried to hack me. How do I know that nobody else has access to it?

I thought they had done something serious to it yesterday when it was barely working all day, and only later discovered it was a general issue. To be honest, I wish I could change to another provider but virgin don't let you take your emails with you, unlike everyone else...you'd think that for the price they charge they would be better, not worse than others. A short rant, I hope it doesn't get in the way of the main problem I have. I'm just not good at technology as I get older and it was a very stressful day yesterday wondering what was going on.

[brockett]

Also, on my computer I keep getting a line at the top of my screen that says: add "mail.virginmedia.com" as an application for mailto links?

Should I press the 'Add application' button? What would that do? I'm confused because I didn't think you had apps on a computer. And I wouldn't know how to use it.

[Nathan_B]

Thanks for your reply @brockett 😊 This certainly does sound like an odd one 🤔

I have checked this with one of my colleagues and the information needed for further help with this can be found here.

If you need more help after checking this, please let us know. We'll certainly be happy to assist.

Regards

Nathan

[brockett]

Thank you, although after reading the article I'm very confused.

I did change my password, so that's ok.

I also checked that there was nobody forwarding my email, and that is ok - although the person who got in and did it before is still listed there, I expected a way that I could delete them completely from my account. Anyhow, the box is unchecked so my email is no longer going to them.

I tried to change my phone security password, but it wouldn't let me. It kept saying that I hadn't got all the necessary requirements for a password, even though I clearly did. Hopefully I won't have a problem contacting virgin by phone! Once before when I phoned and thought I'd changed my password but I hadn't (no idea why it hadn't worked that time) the guy just hung up on me and that was worrying.

I tried to update my phone number - I was surprised to see an old landline number that I haven't had in years. It wouldn't accept my current mobile number, or my current virgin landline number.

So I feel that my account isn't quite right, but I don't think anyone is getting access now, I assume not but I'm not good with technology so I don't really know if changing my password was enough to do that.

I feel it's a bit of a mess...

Thanks again.

By the way, does the 150 freephone number from a virgin landline still work? Last time I rang it didn't work and I had to use the longer number.

[brockett]

PS I wonder if some of my problems are because I was originally with ntl and it got taken over by virgin? That was my old phone number with them back then...

[Paulina_Z · Accepted solution]

Hi @brockett,

Thank you for coming back to us and for keeping us updated on this issue. 

Glad to hear that you've been able to follow the tips provided on our Hacked Email page and that you've reset your password. Have you been able to speak to our team to amend your security password for when you call in? If you're still having issues with this, please let us know, we'll be able to help further. 😊

Have you been able to amend your contact details as well? 

You should be able to 150 from a Virgin Media landline, or call us on 03454541111 from any other phone. Please let us know if you need assistance, we're more than happy to help.

Thank you! 😊

[brockett]

Thank you so much for your help. I was just going to leave it and cross my fingers it was ok, but after you replied I decided to call virgin and discuss the problems. I was able to set a new security password for the phone by giving other info to pass security.

They said they have the correct phone number for me, it's just strange that I have a different older one on the page that I see.

The 150 number worked ok this time, it must just have been a technical issue the last time I tried it. The service has been a bit iffy lately!

The technician was very helpful and he checked over my account and assured me that my account is safe. So I feel much better now I know that for sure - thanks for your help!