Gmail account - hacked??

Soggybiscuit

My gmail account appears to have either been hacked, or somehow someone else is sending out spam messages from the account. I keep getting returned messages with text like

"Calcagno, hey you can totally make it to the top http://presswriters.com/redirect.php?to=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jbmJjNy5jb20vP3BpZD05MTM2MTI=

". The only computers I have on the account are my Laptop, Desktop, HTPC, and Work Laptop and the first three are all turned off right now. I also have 2 phones on the account, however one has a dead battery (so it is off) and the other is in my possession at the moment. I cant figure this out. Any one else had this happen to them before?

m4v1s

This sounds like some kind of phishing scam. Are you absolutely sure these are returned emails and not just messages made to look like returned emails?

You can pull up a list of devices that have signed into your account by hitting the "detail" link at the bottom of your inbox page.

Changing your password is never a bad idea.

Heir

Just check your sent folder and see if you've been sending those out.

If so, change your passwords...all of them.

Soggybiscuit

Heir wrote: »

Just check your sent folder and see if you've been sending those out.

If so, change your passwords...all of them.

Unfortunately it does. Changed the password to my gmail account already.

Just what I needed. The one email that was sent today does not appear to have come from my account, so maybe their is a ray of hope.

All of my computer have a pretty strong AV on them. I keep trying to figure out where this came from.

L Ron Howard

At the very bottom of the page, there is a link that says "Details"
Click on that. That will tell you if anyone has logged into your computer from another location any time soon.

Soggybiscuit

L Ron Howard wrote: »

At the very bottom of the page, there is a link that says "Details"
Click on that. That will tell you if anyone has logged into your computer from another location any time soon.

I did that, but it gives me a list of IP address. Since I have been traveling recently for work and have been to a couple of different job sites all with satellite internet. I logged out all other instances just to be on the safe side yesterday.

clam2000

Google has a page on the steps you should take:
https://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=checklist.cs&tab=29488

TetraNitroCubane

There are a variety of ways someone might be able to compromise your account. Remember, antivirus alone usually isn't enough to defend against infection these days. Particularly if we're talking rootkits. Beyond that, someone can steal your password and login without ever needing to compromise your computer - things like extremely convincing phising sites you get redirected to, or using XSS attacks to steal your session cookies and use your account without even needing your password. Also, if you share the gmail password with any other account on a website (like, say, the PSN) someone might've obtained your password that way.

Mindless speculation of the cause aside, though, I'd highly recommend activating Gmail's two factor authentication. That way, even if someone steals your password, they'll not be able to get into your account.