Your email account was hacked. What now?

The first step should always be to scan the computer for viruses. To do this, run a deep scan or a complete scan of the hard disk with your antivirus software.

In Windows Defender, you can find the corresponding command by double-clicking on the Defender icon in the taskbar corner under “Virus and threat protection -‘ Scan options”. In the next window, select “Full scan” and then “Scan now”.

In addition, you should check the USB ports on your PC to see if the plugged in device is yours or not. Caution: Keyloggers are very small and inconspicuous and often look like plug-ins.

Stolen passwords from the Internet

If the virus scanner finds nothing and no keylogger is connected, your mail password has probably been hacked. In most cases, hackers resort to passwords that appear under your mail address in the Darknet. There are huge collections of addresses and passwords there that have been captured by criminals as a result of security leaks at companies or online services.

Since many people use the same password to log in to online shops, streaming services, company websites, and even mail accounts, hackers also try out the combinations of mail address and password published on the Darknet with a whole range of popular mail services.

If you have been using the same password over and over again, you should change it as soon as possible, for all services and shops where you have used it. Define a different password each time to make such attacks impossible. Write down the passwords on a piece of paper or save them in the database of a great password manager.