Hi Readers — I just want to apologize to anyone getting a weird email message from me today. My Yahoo email account was hacked.
And just in case Yahoo is reading this: It is impossible to get a hold of you, so let me state my complaints here:
1 – Your new email template is frustrating, and your FAQs don’t answer any of the Qs I happen to have about it. I’m sure I’m not alone.
2 – If anyone using your email service is unfortunate enough to get hacked, there is no way to get help from you. No phone number, nothing.
3- Perhaps someone from your “help” desk can contact me via email or this blog. That would be lovely! — L.
49 Comments
Good luck with the hackage recovery!!
I hate the new Yahoo set-up too – so slow and useless on my office computer! The only “help” they offer is that I should upgrade my browser, but I’m at the mercy of the IT programme of work on that count (I think we’re getting IE8 in December..).
I’ve emailed them saying that if I can’t roll back, I’ll be off to Gmail within a week… which probably won’t bug them at all, given that I don’t actually pay anything for their service, but is still really annoying since I’ve been with them for over 10 years.
My husband’s account was hacked recently, too. If you haven’t already, try changing your password AND all your security questions, and anything else that hackers might be able to use to access a new password, like an alternate email address. This worked for us–no unauthorized emails going out since. Good luck!
Have you tried doing an internet search for their phone number? I did that a few years ago and reached a really nice lady who was quite helpful. Wish that they’d put their number someplace on their site, but… and if all else fails, their offices are in California – maybe switchboard.com would have them listed…
…and Yahoo! wonders why it’s not doing so well. Basic, common-sense customer service, and basic website operational testing seems not their forté.
I have had 2 yahoo accounts and both were hacked. I only have an account now for a company Flickr account. Yahoo has never offered support or help with my account security. I moved my business and personal emails to Gmail and in 2 years I haven’t had any security issues.
my yahoo account was hacked this week too. UGH!
This doesn’t help you with your immediate issue (which I’m sorry to hear about–that’s rough), but I have one word for you: gmail.
I was thinking the same word as LSR. Only, Google is starting to make me nervous with the way they seem want to take over the (virtual) world, so I’m not as enthusiastic about them as I was a few months ago. Not in any conspiracy/paranoid way, just that it might not be healthy for one entity to have so many tentacles into so many of us.
But in a practical sense, they’re much better about stuff like that. I got hacked a few weeks ago and I didn’t even know about it (i.e. didn’t have any obvious bad consequences) until Gmail itself sent me a message warning me my account had been accessed in some foreign country, and advising me to change my password immediately. They were right on top of it.
My experience exactly of having my yahoo account hacked.
Customer service. Not.
I closed the account.
So, I also have one word for you, same word: gmail
LOL, that could explain why a friend of mine sent me a couple of links to sex sites today . . . definitely not his style . . . .
Echoing the Gmail suggestion. I’ve had mine since 2004, and have never had a problem. They do a great job of keeping hackers out.
Yahoo long ago stopped caring about their users. I know from working there, their arrogance knew no bounds. Yahoos tended to hold mere end users in disdain, since generally users were not the ones making Yahoo the money (that would be the advertisers). And then they would often wonder why a certain Mountain View company was stealing “their” thunder.
Keep in mind, though, should something similar happen with Gmail, Google is also fairly notorious for not having any humans you can get a hold of. There have been a number of instances where Google has shut down accounts, usually by mistake, offering little or no recourse because of the extent of automation they employ. And Google is not immune to the same attitude problems Yahoo has, since again, users are not Google’s real customers (again: advertisers).
That said, Gmail is simply better than Yahoo mail and you can use their “2 step verification” for logins: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/static.py?page=guide.cs&guide=1056283&topic=1056284
Oh Lenore, I fear I’m responsible. I got one of those email hijacker viruses and I know for certain you were sent an email.
I apologize from the depths of my heart.
tm: exactly. Google may not be better at resolving problems, but the whole thing is better designed to limit them in the first place.
Lenore and friends:
Should we do an Email intervention for Lenore? It might just be time for you to switch to Gmail.
http://www.emailintervention.com/
For some reason, a lot of Yahoo! emails I’ve received from various people have had this issue. It’s ashame, I like Yahoo!, even though I have a GMail and an Android phone, I use Yahoo! for my searches instead of Google. Whereas most people say “Google it,” I always instead say “Yahoo it.”
C’mon Yahoo!, some of us are rooting for you.
LRH
Yeah, I hate the new Yahoo. Slow slow slow. Not better in any way. But it’s hard to beat free.
I have the same complaint about yahoo! mail. when this happened to me a while back, since I couldn’t contact anyone at yahoo!, I contacted AT&T. They, of course, said that my problems had to be taken up with yahoo!, but they didn’t have any way to put me through to them. I wanted to just close my yahoo! accounts, but because they are kind of the “anchor account” for all my AT&T services, it wasn’t really possible just to close it It seems I have a yahoo! connected account (extension pacbell.net) whether I want it or not. I have a new definition for synergies: when two companies manage to keep customers on the hook by putting them in service-limbo while they point the finger at one another and avoid any responsibility for delivering decent service.
Make sure you always change your password periodically. And make it complicated by using alpha-numeric sequences. Don’t use birthdays, phone numbers, or common passphrases that you can easily remember. Very good chance this can be one of the typical passwords people use. It’s astounding that people actually use these passwords:
password
mypassword
1234567890
1234
0000
I was hacked last night as well. I recovered control within about 10 mins of getting a SMS alert to my phone. Unfortunately I didn’t realize till 11 hours later that they put my account into forward mode.
If you’re hacked…
* 1st you found out because you set your account up for SMS alerts, right?
* Change password and security questions
* Remove any alternate email addresses put there by the hacker (e.g. In my case they used “mailingalert@gmail.com”) and restore correct ones.
* Make sure you are still set to get copies of sent mail.
* Check to make sure that your incoming emails haven’t been forwarded. e.g. In my case, an email almost identical to mine was setup.
* Contact anyone on your contact list that might possibly be gullible enough to believe you are really stranded in Madrid without money.
I’ve never had my Yahoo Mail account hacked and I hate Gmail, but I never switched to the newer Yahoo Mail like many people have.
My twitter Account was hacked. Most often these things happen because people aren’t creative with passwords. I’ve learned my lesson so now I have long complex passwords. The longer and more complex the better.
Also, Mr./Mrs. tm is wrong. I’m biased though. Since I currently work at Yahoo (phone technical support for Small Business services) and have for over a year, I deal face to face with customers on a daily basis, both paid and often enough…free email customers who are misdirected to our support lines via searching the number on the internet or something. Yahoo is the most customer-concerned company I’ve ever worked for and I will continue to do so because of their business ethics and personalized service.
Not sure how to get in contact with you, since your Yahoo account was hacked, so I’m leaving this here.
There’s a great book out, fiction, for children. I’d classify it as Young Adult or Middle Grade; the main character’s 12. It’s a new book, and all the children in it are connected to an adult by ‘Guardian Chains’ from the time they learn to walk until a separation ceremony when they’re sixteen… an age recently lowered to twelve. I wish I’d written it. But either way, it made me think of you. It’s Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner.
Thank you for your great column!
While I don’t have a Yahoo account, I positively endorse Hotmail for their management of hacked accounts. And I’m not a huge fan of Microsoft et al, in principal, so this is an honest appraisal of their policy and process in dealing with hacked accounts. My Hotmail account was hacked while I was on an unsecured hotel server while overseas. I was very pleased with Hotmail’s mangement of my account so that no further hacking could occur. I had to positively identify myself to regain ownership of the account, which I’ve had since 1998.
Hope Yahoo comes to their senses and fixes your problem.
This is apparently not an unusual occurence, and it’s not just Yahoo. The website for Market Street Railway (a support group for vintage streetcar operation in San Francisco) got hacked, and the whole site was off-line for a number of weeks. The devil seems to find a lot of idle hands to do his work. Or as one commentator put it, all it takes is a guy with a full coffee pot and an empty social calendar. (I realize that some of this malfeasance of the internet comes from more sophisticated sources.)
Searched Google for “Yahoo Customer Service Number”. This is what I found on Yahoo answers:
The Yahoo! Customer Support.
721 First Avenue, Sunnyvale,
CA 94089
â˜866-562-7219
â˜1-408-349-3300
☖FAX 1-408-349-3301
➣The Yahoo! Customer Service
â˜408-349-1572
Security: 866.722.3425
â˜1-866-492-4664
(866-4-YAHOO-HELP)
8am – 5pm M-F
(Pacific Time)
The E-Mail address for Yahoo!
customer care is
➣cc-advoc@yahoo-inc.com
Email Login Support
➣my-login-support@cc.yahoo-inc.com
Yahoo! Groups -Groups Help
– Feedback
➣http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/…
You can also get live online
support from:
➣http://voice.yahoo.com/voice_help.php
I think it was a widespread thing. I got a notice to change my password b/c my yahoo acc.t may have been compromised. I had the same problems you had trying to get any useful info or get ahold of a person. It took me three times to change my password, too.
Yahoo is the WORST!! I switched to gmail awhile back and the response is much better. Plus their email servers are better in general as well. Sorry, you got hacked happened to me awhile back and it it not a fun experience. I now use 20+ character passwords with numbers, letters and symbols.
Happened to me yesterday. Very embarrassing as it went to loads of work people. I don’t like Gmail but I think I’m a-gonna have to move over and just maintain Yahoo Mail for Flickr and signing things like this… Yahoo is also so slow!
Same thing happened to me just recently, but with msn. Really annoying. Sent out tons of spam and infected at least 5 friends with a nasty computer virus.
How can i retrieved my id and password but how i don’t know and excess many time in my account from USA. Could you suggest me how can i block this hacker and how can i regain my mailing address more securely?
http://www.techyv.com/questions/my-yahoo-email-id-hacked-usa
Get gmail!!! My yahoo account is just full of spam. No matter how many times I hit that Spam button on Yahoo. Whenever I get emails from friends telling me to click a link and it’s basically a Viagra site, the’ve been hit by a virus… They are all yahoo accounts.
What I would suggest is to get two gmail accounts. One for personal and one for sign-ups or anything where you need to give your email. Then copy over all your contacts to your gmail account. Once you made sure all your contacts were transferred over, delete all the contacts in your Yahoo. That’s to prevent any of those viruses taking over and sending emails to all your contacts.
Does that make sense? Email me if you have any questions.
I know I’m not alone here, but it’s been 2 months since I’ve been able to access my Yahoo email account which I’ve had for over 15 years. They literally will not respond to any of my inquiries concerning this. I hated to lose years worth of emails including products I’ve purchased online, etc. I’ve finally decided that it’s a lost cause so I’ve made sure to change all my other online accounts that use this email and of course minimize my usage of all Yahoo services in the future. My best advice to anyone else that has this happen is not waste any time with Yahoo support and move on to finding another email service (Gmail operates like a well-oiled machine compared to Yahoo). I still have to wonder how many customers Yahoo will lose before they start caring!
My facebook n email accounts have been hacked. Even while on net everything seems to be evident to the hacker.Sometimes he stops my browser n i am unable to go foward. Why do yahoo keep such hackers I am just an ordinary person no big finance,neither beautiful nor brainy. I LACK SOFT SKILLs n am just learning on my own n trying to learn thro mistakes. When i am trying to be on the google sights this is happening more. Even my google mails r not reaching me. I actually formulated a google language not yet completed. How can i publish it when hacking is the problem?
Lenore, if you’re still having trouble, email me directly so we can talk. I work for Yahoo and would be willing to help explain things for you. I also have Yahoo services for my personal use and am loving the new mail more and more everyday, just a minor learning curve. Jacey484@hotmail.com
e mbuh sob fb q rusak&maaf q gk bs gabung ma kalian.daaa…..
My yahoo account was harked this week too.
Student
I too was hacked and agree that it is impossible to fix. Tried calling yahoo,AT&T, and unverse , they all pass the problem onto the other or last person I talked to.
My email account is being hacked. How do i close the yahoo account? Any suggestion or advice?
tlg saye nk buat fb tapi tk blh pulak? tlg ajarkan saye blh……..
My husband got messages from yahoo conversation from girls trying to get him to go to certain links. But it showed my husband chatting back until she said go to this site. He said it wasn’t him and that it was someone else. Would you happen to know anything like this happening to anyone?
I had to change my password on my yahoo account now I can’t get any of my messages on my cell what do I need to do?
plz my account mail and facebook has hacked i cant log in plz help me and say what are do
and he has me and made he for me a new account without password
My account has the error 999 and its not opening
Services of yours caused many difficulties to my yahoo mail id I had many emails on that but I can’t access to my yahoo mail id can not login why make my id reactive.
my email account has been hacked
Every attempt to get my mail fails.Often displaying ‘secured connection not available’.Is then yahoo has compromised my mails ?