Recover a hacked email account

If you got a notice from the AT&T Internet Services Security Center that an email address on your account sent spam emails, you can’t sign in to your account, or you’re not getting email, it's possible your account has been hacked, phished, or is at risk.

Ways to identify an at-risk email account

• You get complaints about spam being sent from your email address. The emials could be sent to people in your address book or to strangers.
  
• You're not getting any email.
  
• You seem to be missing email.
  
• You get a lot of undeliverable or bounced messages that you didn't send.
  
• You can't sign in to your email account.
  
• You see strange emails in your Sent folder and you didn't send them.
  
• You get an email about winning a type of reward, such as an AT&T Reward.

How does it happen? Email IDs, passwords, and other private details can be compromised through phishing attempts or keylogging malware. After the info is captured, someone else can use your info to send spam or fraudulent emails.

You can take back control of your account. AT&T Internet Security Services suggests several steps you can take to protect yourself and your account information.

There are several possible ways your account security could be at risk. You can make changes to recover your account and fix many issues that are putting you at risk.

Change email password

Changing your password right away reduces the security risk to your AT&T email account. Once you’ve made sure that all devices on your network are free from malware and your email security settings are valid, be sure to change your password again.
For help picking a strong password and protecting it from future security problems, review these password tips.

Create or update account security questions and answers

The security questions and answers you set at myAT&T let you securely access your account or make changes to your account info.

Secure your computers

Protect your computers against malware. Malware can steal passwords and other personal data.

• Scan all computers with an up-to-date anti-virus program. AT&T AntiVirus Plus powered by McAfee is free to those who qualify and includes anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall protection.
• Use an up-to-date anti-malware application, as some malware isn't detected by anti-virus scans.
• Make sure you keep your operating system up to date with the recommended security updates from the operating system provider.

Review and update your email settings

Access your AT&T email settings by hovering over the gear icon and then choosing Settings. Review these areas for suspicious activity:

• Email signature: Look for any changes to your signature or content that you don’t recognize.
• Accounts: Check each of your email accounts. Select Edit to view the details of your account, and look for any unknown or incorrect accounts listed under POP or Forward. Check the sending name, reply-to address, spam settings, and any other details. Delete any unknown or incorrect accounts.
• Vacation response: Disable the Vacation Response unless you need it.
• Blocked addresses: Make sure your email address isn't listed in the Blocked Email Addresses list. If it is, remove it and select Save.
• Contacts: Make sure the details for your contacts are correct. Delete any unknown or unfamiliar ones.