Recent scamware attack

[chrisbaker42]

twice now everybody in my address book has been sent an email supposedly from me containing a link to a web site, I have searched my machine and done the usual scan with malwarebytes but have come up with nothing. I would appreciate any suggestions as to how I can stop this.

A returned mail email says they were sent by

oms-db01.r1000.mx.aol.com

if that is of any use

 

[SUMMONER]

The spam email could have come from anyone who has you in their address book.

 

[chrisbaker42]

Does this mean that someone has taken my entire address book and nothing can be done?

 

[SUMMONER]

Does this mean that someone has taken my entire address book and nothing can be done?

Since your computer was clean (run a 2nd scan with Spybot, just to be sure) it is unlikely that it was your computer that was compromised.
It is far more likely that the computer of someone you know was, which will have a lot people in his/her address book that you have too.

The fact that spam mails originated from an AOL mail server "may" indicate that the person who's computer was compromised uses AOL for an Internet connection. However it is not a definitive conclusion.

It is also possible that someone hacked your webmail account? What does your email end in? ie: live.com/gmail.com?¿

If you are concerned about security, change your email password, check the password recovery questions in the webmail and do not use any public computers to check your email.

 

[chrisbaker42]

I'm not concerned about security only the possible concerns others may have when receiving fake emails claiming to be sent by me.

I use aol for all my email activity.

It is definitely my address book that is being used

 

[SUMMONER]

Change all your password, there isn't really anything else you can do at this point.

 

[maf1970]

@chrisbaker42 - In this day and age when using 1 provider for all your e-mail you should be concerned about security. If you read other threads about e-mail you will find that most use multiple providers. e.g. ISP E-mail,Hotmail,GMail etc. We also make use of the extra addresses offered by ISPs and I personally make full use of my ISP's (BT) disposable addresses.
To get more info regarding the emails sent you need to see the Internet Headers. But this is sometimes easier said than done. E-mail clients like Outlook allow you to view them easily. Webmail I'm not so sure about.(Hotmail does)

I echo SUMMONER's sentiment - Change your password and also the answers to security questions.

http://www.pctools.com/guides/password/

 

[chrisbaker42]

Passwords etc. all changed as soon as it happened.