Account details stolen email

[norks]

Some <removed> has just sent me an email saying my account details have been stolen and below it was a link which i have not clicked as it more than likely contains a virus.

Should i be worried as a few weeks ago i had quite a few angry emails from friends wondering why i had sent them a link to viagra

I had not done this but in my sent folder it stated that i had.

 

I have tried to reply to the email telling them to go ahead and do what they like cos i am skint anyway but have not been able to send it.

 

Is it likely that i have had my bank details and other things stolen or is this some idiots idea at a joke.

 

I have run my security scan and it has detected no threats but this is a new laptop and for a short while i was without protection.

 

Any help would be gratefully received

[boyfriday]

Sounds like the phishing scam norks. The scammers send out millions of emails in the hope they'll get people to reply who have accounts with the banks they're pretending to represent. They then ask for account information on the premiss they need to reactivate your account or some other trick.

 

I get them regularly from 'Santander, Lloyds and the Halifax' even though I dont have accounts with any of them.

[norks]

This was not a emil from a bank though, it was from a guy called maulhankh...or something like that

 

 

I guess i will just ignore it

[Waldo]

Never respond to anything like this. If you think there is a real problem, just contact your bank direct.

 

Always ignore and delete phishing emails, never respond to them, even just to tell them where to get off; all it does is let them know that your email address is active, and will likely encourage more mails.

[esme]

as BF says it's most likely a phishing scam, don't click on the link

 

I am a little concerned that you have evidence of emails you personally didn't send sitting in your sent mail box, that suggests you have a virus that's sending email at the very least

 

if you do on line banking or payments by credit/debit card on that machine I suggest you contact the bank and credit people and tell them you think the on line details have been compromised and can you have new details issued, better to be safe than sorry

 

then you need to disinfect the machine before you use it again, I suggest you ask in the computer and tech chat area for details but a good place to start would be to download the free copy of malwarebytes (google will find it for you), install it, update it and do a full scan of the machine

[norks]

as BF says it's most likely a phishing scam, don't click on the link

 

I am a little concerned that you have evidence of emails you personally didn't send sitting in your sent mail box, that suggests you have a virus that's sending email at the very least

 

if you do on line banking or payments by credit/debit card on that machine I suggest you contact the bank and credit people and tell them you think the on line details have been compromised and can you have new details issued, better to be safe than sorry

 

then you need to disinfect the machine before you use it again, I suggest you ask in the computer and tech chat area for details but a good place to start would be to download the free copy of malwarebytes (google will find it for you), install it, update it and do a full scan of the machine

 

 

thanks i will do that now x