Re: my gmail was hacked

**D* G* <g*@gmail.com>**

My sympathies go out to those in this situation -   here's the deal and
recommendations.

Many folks use the same set of passwords on multiple accounts.  Once one
account is compromised, hacker-spiders can then take that set of data (often
containing your email accounts- often used as usernames) and can spider/hack
across a range of common sites where you might have used the same
combinations.  Every site they penetrate often contains more passwords - so
in Penelope's case, having her gmail account hacked means (if it's like
mine) there are a ton of registration emails etc in there to be hacked and
then used.

1)  In Penelope's case, I'd be changing every password I could think of and
quickly - very quickly.  Anything mission-critical should be changed now.

2) I use a high-security password encryption manager  called 1stpassword.
It sits on my computer and my itouch to manage different layers of
encryption for different accounts.   Get something similar.  Those who work
online in the "cloud" now are going to need this more and more.  If you have
a blog or other online mail program - you need this kind of security (and
for 30 bucks, it's penny wise, pound foolish to not have one)

3) Take screenshots of interior settings such as the settings tabs etc in
your gmail account so if you are hacked - you can then prove to Google that
this has happened by giving them the screenshots or by providing them with
data to prove your point.  The more screenshots of password managers -
settings tabs, content (first pages way back when) and individual emails
with your name/etc on it you can provide them the better.

4) Immediately after registering for a site - go to the settings tabs and
change the assigned password to a new one.  Then delete the confirming email
from the site but keep the password in your password manager.

Hope this helps a bit.

Doug

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 7:32 PM, Penelope OSullivan <p.jj@comcast.net> wrote:

> My gmail account was hacked, my password stolen and changed, and Google
> won't believe that it was ever mine so I can't get my account back. I took
> my computer right away to a tech guy, who checked it for malware and found
> nothing bad, thanks to it being a Mac. I'm wondering if this has to do with
> my website, where I have my email address (which forwards to gmail) but I
> don't think it's live. I'd like to apologize to everyone who got scammed.
> Please keep your money in the bank. I'm in NH not London, and we are all
> well.
>
> Penelope O'Sullivan
> "The Homeowner's Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook:
> The Essential Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect
> Landscape Plants"
> Storey Publishing, 2007
> www.penelopeosullivan.com
> blog csmonitor.com: http://bit.ly/9n3mxy
>
>
>
>
>
> Doug Green
Editor-in-Chief,
SGF Publishing
http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com
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