Help: I think my mac has a virus, worm or Trojan Horse?

[christoxo]

For the past week or so, people from my mailing list in Eudora have received a series of crude spam emails from my address containing links to porn sites. A couple of them have sent me copies of the messages. Very embarrassing! I'm not sure how to deal with this and I would appreciate any suggestions. The cheaper the solution, the better.

I have the original macbook pro, core duo running 10.5.6 and I use Eudora 6.2 as my email client.

Thank you for any help you can offer,

Christopher

 

[r.j.s]

What service do you use for your email?

You probably don't have anything, your account has probably just been hacked.

 

[christoxo]

Thanks

I use popmail at yahoo.com

If I've been hacked, what if anything might I do about it?

 

[richard.mac]

change your Yahoo mail account's password and maybe use a client other than Eudora (may not be the cause, im just unfamiliar with it) like the built in Mail client or just use Yahoo's webmail.

 

[0009382]

Gmail

Hi, I would like to suggest GMAIL.

 

[LowEnder]

Is there any chance you created an account on a new site to see a message a friend sent you?
Just asking, as they normally hijack your mailing list
I hope you get it fixed easily

 

[christoxo]

Thanks LowEnder!

Ihave registered on Faceook recently and replied to messages, etc. I think I have also registered on other sites which might be more questionable.

I'm not sure what fixing this might entail.

Christopher

 

[r.j.s]

I'm not sure what fixing this might entail.

Christopher

Change all your passwords, and make them strong.

 

[tonyburkhart]

Change all your passwords, and make them strong.

x2 : Quoted for truth!

Also, switching to a more secure mail provider would help. As nelsencaleb suggested, Gmail is a good option for an effective spam filtering mail service that is free.

 

[christoxo]

I am grateful to every person who replied...

it feels good to find so much support when something like this happens. I will change passwords and maybe change email services to gmail.

I'm still wondering if someone hacked into my computer, which is always online, or into my yahoo email account. Is it likely to have been my mac and, if so, how can I prevent that from recurring.

Thank you,

Christopher

 

[tonyburkhart]

Glad you're learning

It is highly unlikely that it was your Mac that was compromised. It is way more likely that it was your mail provider was or that you downloaded something evil from Facebook. The best thing to do is change your passwords regularly and keep track of what permissions you inadvertently give to sites such as Facebook.

You can use a password generator, if you are uncomfortable with making them strong enough yourself.