How To Tell if Someone Has Hacked your E-mail

Hacking is a huge issue that affects all of us. With automatic hacker programs and bots becoming more capable all the time, it is up to us to make sure all our online lives are as safe and secure as they can be. As we all use email, it seemed a logical place to begin our quest for better online security. This page is going to show you how to tell if someone has hacked your email and what you can do to prevent it.

Let us get one thing straight. There is no such thing as ‘completely secure’. No security method is a hundred percent and nothing will keep you completely safe. What we can do it protect ourselves to such an extent that only the most dedicated hacker stands any chance of getting to our stuff.

Has someone has hacked your email?

There are only a couple of ways to tell if your email has been hacked or not. The first and most obvious is emails in your Inbox showing as read before you even log in. If this happens once it could be a glitch. If it happens again, someone may have hacked your email. If you see emails in your Sent or Outbox that you didn’t write, that could also be a sign.

If you use Gmail, you can check recent activity from the dashboard.

1. Sign into Google and select My Account.
2. Select Device activity & security events and Review Devices.
3. Check all devices within the next page to see if everything is in order.

Google tracks every login and notes the device type, time and place so if you have been hacked it will show up here.

If you use Outlook Web Access, you can do something similar.

1. Sign into the Microsoft Account page.
2. Select the Security tab and select Review recent activity.
3. Verify your password once more and inspect the results.

Like Google, Microsoft tracks account access and will show all devices, times and locations within this window.

For all email account users, you could try HaveIBeenPwned.com. This is a website created by an ex-Microsoft employee to help webmail users quickly find out if they have been hacked or not. It has a huge database of email addresses that are known to have been shared as a result of a hack. While not exhaustive in its contents, it is a good place to try.

What to do if someone has hacked your email

If someone has hacked your email, it’s time to take action. You need to act immediately as any delay could have serious impact on your online life. Depending on the email in question and how you use it, you could suffer significant reputation damage as a result.

You need to change your password, initiate two-factor authentication, scan your device for malware, Trojans or spyware and then alert email contacts to let them know what happened.

Change your password

It stands to reason that the first thing you need to do is change your password. In a best case scenario, you will just log into your email service, select Settings, Security and Change Password. In a worst case scenario you will have to contact the email provider and prove ownership of the account before they let you make this kind of change. This will be especially true if the hacker was spreading malware from your email address.

Either way, change the password to something strong. Include numbers, higher case and lower case letters and special characters if permitted. If you can use a phrase or something longer, do so.

Set up two-factor authentication

Most webmail services provide two-factor authentication for logins. When you enter your email address and password, an SMS is sent to your phone or email sent to an alternative address with a code. You enter the code into the window and you are allowed access to your email. This is a serious security upgrade and you should use it on every online account you have whenever it is available.

Scan your device for malware

The hacker got your email address from somewhere. It may have been an online hack but it could also have been from your device. You should run periodic automatic scans as part of good computer hygiene and if you don’t, now would be a good time to begin. Scan all of your devices fully for viruses and separately for malware.

Alert your contacts

If you are sure someone hacked your email, you should notify your email contacts. You don’t need to go into detail but just tell them to ignore emails from you that look out of character. Tell them you were hacked ands that you have secured your email account again but tell them to be aware of spam and emails purporting to be from you.

If someone has hacked your email, the faster you act the less damage they can do. I hope this tutorial helps you do that!