If your email account gets hacked, you should swiftly check devices for malware and secure your login to protect yourself from potential scams and theft. When hackers control your email address, they can easily impersonate you to access personal and financial accounts and send malicious links to your contacts in order to execute scams against your friends and family.
While Arthur State Bank’s security measures help detect unauthorized account access and malicious activity, we still encourage our customers to understand email security and proactively protect their data. We’ve gathered some tips to help improve your understanding of how hackers operate, what to do if your email account gets hacked, and how to prevent future incidents.
How Email Accounts Get Hacked
It’s essential to understand how your email account got hacked to prevent retargeting and keep it secure. While a malicious actor could gain access to your account by stealing or guessing your password, not all hackers need a password to take control of someone else’s email account. Hackers can infiltrate unsecured access points, like Wi-Fi or browser password managers, or use various malware to obtain unauthorized entry into people’s emails.
Hackers use many methods to get into email accounts, including:
- Guessing obvious or easy passwords or security questions
- Watching over your shoulder as you enter passwords
- Using malware to steal login credentials
- Taking physical possession of a device that you’re logged into
- Breaching an email service provider and stealing client data
- Intercepting Wi-Fi traffic containing your login information
How To Tell If Your Email Account Got Hacked
Getting locked out of your email is usually the first thing to happen when your account has been hacked, and it is a common indication that your security is compromised. But when a hacker attempts a scam that requires monitoring incoming or outgoing mail, they may allow the email owner to maintain their access to try to go unnoticed. Thankfully, other signals besides being locked out of your account, like unusual password change requests and unfamiliar access locations, can help you identify a potential email hack. Consider any of these events as signs that your email account may have been breached:
- You receive notifications that your username or password has changed and you didn’t make the request.
- You’re notified that your email account was accessed by a new device or in a location that you don’t recognize.
- Email contacts report receiving emails from you that include odd links, requests for money, and messages that sound unfamiliar or threatening.
- Theft prevention measures are triggered on accounts linked to your email, such as your bank, credit cards, or shopping apps.
Examine Your Email Account Activity
If you suspect you’re the victim of a hacked email account, you should review recent activity to confirm this. Hackers often leave traces of their malicious activity behind.
To check whether your email has been hacked, contact your service provider and request information on the IP addresses accessing your emails. Next, review your inbox and settings for evidence that hackers made changes to maintain control of the account or intercept communications, such as:
- Changing Password and Security Questions: Hackers lock the owner out of the account and prevent them from regaining access.
- Disabling Authentication Settings: They may modify or disable any extra security layers, like multi-factor authentication, to make reaccessing your account easier.
- Setting Up Mail Forwarding: Emails may be set up to forward to an unknown address, allowing a hacker to intercept communications from financial institutions or contacts.
- Resetting Recovery Contact Information: This might be changed to an email or phone number you don’t recognize, giving hackers access to reset your password.
- Adding Email Filters: These automatically move or delete specific emails, such as security notifications or breach warnings.
- Updating Reply-To / Send-From Addresses: This allows hackers to intercept email replies to steal sensitive information or send spam or phishing emails from your account.
Securing Your Email Account After It Was Hacked
If the scam didn’t cause too much reputational damage from spam emails or fraud schemes, and you feel you can resecure your inbox, you don’t need to delete your hacked email account and create a new one. But if your email address has been targeted multiple times or your email service provider experiences frequent data breaches, it may be wise to consider deleting your account and starting fresh with a more secure option.
You should also take these steps to secure your email account after it was hacked:
Run an Antivirus Program on Your Devices
Knowing what to do after your email gets hacked and which steps to prioritize is key to taking back control of your account and closing off hackers’ access points. Increasing your antivirus protection is the first change you should make, even before recovering your account. Running a comprehensive antivirus scan can identify malware downloaded onto your device and prevent additional malicious acts. Opt for a third-party antivirus scan in addition to your device’s built-in protection so the program is thorough enough to detect malware hidden deeply within your systems.
Change Your Password and Recover Your Account
After your device security is up to date, you can proceed with changing your email password and any additional steps to regain control. If you’re locked out of your email account, recovering it often requires answering security questions and entering the last known password and other details on your email service provider’s site. To help the provider confirm your identity, use a device associated with your account and sign in from a recognizable IP address.
Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication
This added security step requires both the password and an additional confirmation source, such as a text message or key code. Activate multi-factor authentication as soon as possible after recovering your account to prevent the hacker from regaining access.
Alert Others to Your Hacked Email Account
After your email account got hacked, you should alert your contacts who may have been emailed malicious links or threats. You should also contact local authorities if the incident involves suspected identity theft or fraud, and your financial institution if your bank accounts were possible targets.
Reset Security Questions
A hacker could have accessed your email account by guessing the answer to your security questions, especially if these were easily discoverable from public information or social media. Use these tips for choosing strong email security questions:
- Select questions that are meaningful to you only. Avoid answering these using personal information that can be easily found online, like the name of a pet or your street address.
- Provide answers that are specific to you and unpredictable to others. Using false answers is one tactic that makes these difficult to guess.
Review Email Settings
Hackers use email settings to intercept communications, send fraudulent messages, and maintain account control. Review mail forwarding, auto-replies, recovery contact information, and authentication measures, and reset any that the hacker manipulated for their schemes.
Resecure Any Associated Accounts
Many people enjoy the convenience of diverse payment solutions, but online accounts associated with your email must be resecured after a breach. While many financial institutions require multi-factor authentication, confirm these settings are active and uncompromised. If your email account got hacked and it controls your cloud storage, your identity could be at risk if you don’t reset logins connected to digital passports, taxpayer forms, and other sensitive information.
Preventing Future Attacks on Your Email Account
Knowing what to do when your email gets hacked is only half the puzzle. Email scam prevention is critical to protecting your finances, identity, and personal data. Changing your password isn’t enough to stop hackers; you must also implement multi-factor authentication and strong security questions, plus adopt safe online habits to stay ahead of these schemes. Arthur State Bank understands banking fraud trends, and we prioritize digital security. Use our tips for safer online banking to help keep your critical accounts protected. If you suspect an email scam has compromised your bank accounts, please contact us right away.
Proudly serving South Carolina since 1933, Arthur State Bank offers accounts and services to meet a variety of financial needs. To help you achieve all your financial goals, the bank offers in-person service as well as a range of convenient digital solutions. To learn how Arthur State Bank can help you with banking needs ranging from checking and savings to retirement accounts, mortgages, other personal loans and more, visit arthurstatebank.com.
