Truly, U dont know what U've got till its gone. I've used just one e-mail add for over 10yrs & unconsciously built my world & identity around it & now I've lost it.I'd visited a cybercafe 2 browse and when I tried logging in I got a message supposedly from yahoo advising me 2 change my password cos it had been compromised, I did but that was d last time I saw my mailbox. I've tried hundreds of combinations but no luck, I've tried using d pw help but I think its been altered cos i cant get my Postal code right, I've placed over a dozen long distance calls 2 yahoohelpdesk but I cant get past a security question I dont recall answering allbeit 10yrs ago. A new e-mail right now is such a huge handicap, I cant recall feeling dis helpless in my entire life! SO IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP? I'M DESEPERATE

how?

..

Is d title web"MASTERS" 4 nothing?

how long to be precise and your country of resident?

Lost it on the 10th of June and i'm in Naija

I have a client with the same issues with her yahoo account.  I just did her site and I know she has money and knew she was in the states so I found it suspicious when I got an email from "her" saying she was in Nigeria for an AIDS conference.  The email went on to say that she lost her purse in a cab and wanted me to wire to her via western union, $3,000 which she would pay upon return.

Pretty much you are screwed.  At best, you can only set up a new account and email all those you know off-head and have them do same to your mutual friends.  From that point on, do like me when you use any computer that isn't yours:

1) Delete all cache and cookies before leaving the place
2) Delete browser history
3) Close the browser
4) Reopen browser and make sure nothing is left tying you to that computer

One time, I even went as far as disabling images.  Might sound ridiculous but I bow for some of my naija brethren.  I pay my bills online at cybercafes when in the country.  Who knows? the person probably just went to your history and/or clicked the back button, if you forgot to close the browser.

sorry about your situation and good luck as you try to rebuild.

@ yawa tide Livin up 2 your name huh? Tanx for d advice I'll remember that when next I'm using a public system. Funny enuff,I avoid payin any bill online cos of a nagging phobia,I've always tried 2 be extremely careful.The thought of givin up is givin me d chills! God abeg o!

I had a client once that had this problem.
These guys will start sending scam messages from your box so i give you the following advice:
Mail and SMS everyone you can remember who has ever sent u a message, received a message from you or have their contact in your address book.

There's a way to retrieve your new password from these scammers but i cant say it here incase some scammers are reading this thread. I used it for my client and it worked but its not a guaranteed technique and it can only work while the scammers are still opening your box. It wont work once they are through with it.

I explain the process to yawa, she can then help you retrieve it. I cant go through the process now cos i'm on my way for a conference in Abuja and may not have time till next week. I don't have yawa's email so she might need to mail me on ceo[@]afrisoft[.]org

NB: I wont reveal it to any other person so no one aside yawa should bother mailing me.

@ Lojik, Did U mix up the names? Yawa isnt the one that needs help Its me actually, U can confirm from the thread except perharps theres no mix up on your part.So I'll be mailing u hopefully all the same.Tanx

@ Lojik, Ok I think I get your drift now,So all I have to do is hope Yawa(Moderator) mails U,and understands d process enough to retrieve my password right?,Hope he's readin.If u are, my lost e-mail is .tanx a million

yawatide at yahoo dot com

ok. mail u now yawa

did u say cafe? I rarely use them and if i had to, i will be ready to type something like "keyloggertesting" in the address bar, then do a windows search for that word.
i have been able to spot a keylogger file thru this method.

just a matter of visiting nairaland while the search goes on.

after that, i'll go checkout the system host file

@ webdezzi, Hello, English only pls,unfortunately some of us do not understand beyond d very comp basics,so terms like keylogger and webhost kinda sound like latin.u'lld b a lot more helpful if u were more detailed.tanx

Keyloggers are programs that can be installed in your system to spy on your keyboard. It records every stroke of the keyboard. It even has an image clippad that could store screenshots made by the program while you were browsing. The funniest thing is that you can hide the program from the program files, add or remove program in you control panel. The program can run undetected in your system. All the owner needs is to wake it up by holding down three keys and entering its password to access every thing you've done. If the program is a registered version, the owner wont even need to come back and check it, the program can be sending back reports to his email at the end of the day. So you have to be careful with public systems as there are people whose work is to reap where they did not sow.

Wow! that was so enlightening,and really really scary esp 4 guys like me dat have so much faith on our Antivirus and antiSpyware.But u kinda left out d most important part; HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF OR CHECK FOR THEM. I've got my notepad ready.Pls dont stop now else u would have added 2 my cyberphobia.

lol, u mean you didnt know thats where ur problems generated from?(keyloggers). lol
i remember in those dayz, we used to have em plentiful on systemz. lol (oops!!! did i just say that? ) cancel cancel cancel,

but really, its nice to know abt thiz things, so no one takes u for a ride. am alwayz online but av not been to a cafe since this year, alwayz from my lappy,

but whenever i visit a cafe, i must run checks on the very system am gonna use, there abt 3 different key combinations u must run, at least one of em 3 must bring this logger up.

bro, u were keylogged and pray lojik has the solution for u, if not, say odabo to ur ID,
i read somwhere u said "IS THE NAME WEBMASTER FOR FUN?"

even person wey get gun, armed robber still dey enter im house, disarm and britalize am . lol

@bug24, True words Perharps. I guess theres always a price 2 pay for ignorance and maybe I've paid mine and dont want 2 keep paying, So could someone pls "Declassify" d all important information? how do I protect myself or check for these malicious keyloggers?

bug24:

lol,  u mean you didnt know thats where ur problems generated from?(keyloggers). lol

it may not be keyloggers
at times, i still find myself logging into websites without checking the url.

anyway, am glad someone already helped you out with what keyloggers do.
here is another trend:
imagine going to a website that opens up a new tab or popunder, since u have many tabs on, u decided to finish with other tabs, not knowing the new tab loaded a yahoomail-like page. when u reach this tab, u just supplied ur login credentials without checking the url,(since u are familiar with how yahoomail page looks). after supplying the details, the phishing website, stores ur info, and logs you into the original yahoomail, so transparent, you did not figure this out. at the end of the day, the attacker changes ur password, and there u are on all public forum seeking advice.


apart from keyloggers, changing a cafe's host file can also be very dangerous, making hundreds lose their mailbox passwords as they log onto such computer.

check this out.

open "My Computer" and navigate to this directory "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc"
open the "hosts" file with notepad, make sure u use notepad
add "67.59.179.56  www.yahoo.com" to the last line, (without the quotes)
and overwrite it

NOTE:make sure u save it as "hosts" and not "hosts.txt". Vista users may experience problem saving it, the trick is to save it on ur desktop, then copy it to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc


now open any web browser try www.yahoo.com

it will load punchng.com instead of yahoo.com simply because
67.59.179.56 is punchng.com's ip address

thats because ur system checks that file each time it connects to a new url, to see if u have defined some ip-domain relationships.
since all naija cafe's will let anyone modify a file as powerful as that. then dont be surprise when next you try to access ur online banking from a cafe.
even though u type ur the real url urself, you might just be on another website like "thegreathacker.com.ru"

thats more of the reason i no longer login to my mailboxes from cafes.
sharing this may help the bad guys a lot but
many bad guys are already using it and it is just fair to let ppl know.

hmm! microsoft

remember to undo changes made to ur system if u tried the instruction above

one sure way to detect keyloggers is to use what they do to get at them.

try opening ur browser, in the url, type an odd long word like "juhhedghsgghjfhfjj"

the key logger must have logged that word,

now open up My computer and search for ur c: drive for "juhhedghsgghjfhfjj" contained in file, not filename

very long and boring if the computer has low ram or large used up hard drive space.

the only way to get your email back is to use a hacker, there are many advertising online and it is very easy to find out the real ones from the fake ones,

FIRST you have to be sure that whoever is going to ask you for money, that they can access your email, so far the rate is 100/200€ to get it back,

SECOND the easy way to be sure that the person you are going to pay has access to your email inbox is to send an email to your stolen address and tell the hacker to tell you exactly what it is about. . sounds simple but only someone who has access can do that. then this person will change the password again and upon receiving your money(via western union of course) they will give you the new password etc VOILA,

THIRD you get nothing valuable for free in life, if you were stupid enough to open your very important yahoo address in some BS internet cafe full of Keyloggers etc then you have only yourself to blame.
note that if someone sends you an email from 9ja telling you that they can get it for you without proof then he is a scammer.

most of the hackers i have ever come in contact with were from either RUSSIA or CHINA/INDIA and there is very little they can NOT do.

@Webdezi, Tanx 4 d detailed enlightenment it is obviously most useful & sincerely appreciated. @Mr Brown J,up to €200 to get it back? meeeen, dat has got 2 be my very last resort sha, Anyway tanx 4 d info but I wish u hadnt cald me "Stupid". Even d current UK foreign Secretary I recall was a victim and didnt realize it until his friends were gettin mails askin for £3000 thru western union!. He wasnt sittin in "some BS internet cafe full of keyloggers" in Naija 2 be phished was he?And if u say He's also "Stupid" well look were it got him!. tanx anyway.

wesley80:

@Webdezi, Tanx 4 d detailed enlightenment it is obviously most useful & sincerely appreciated. @Mr Brown J,up to €200 to get it back? meeeen, dat has got 2 be my very last resort sha, Anyway tanx 4 d info but I wish u hadnt cald me "Stupid". Even d current UK foreign Secretary I recall was a victim and didnt realize it until his friends were gettin mails askin for £3000 thru western union!. He wasnt sittin in "some BS internet cafe full of keyloggers" in Naija 2 be phished was he?And if u say He's also "Stupid" well look were it got him!. tanx anyway.

are you saying that the uk foreign secretary cannot do stupid stuff sometimes?! dont get me wrong about the stupid remarks, we all do stupid stuff sometimes, me included but we have to accept it when we do.
there are many ways to loose your passwords from using someone's computer to downloading a movie/song that has a keylogger well hidden inside it.
the lists are endless on how someone can get in that position(being in some internet cafe is the easiest one), the catch is to be able to get out of it with your "E-life" intact.
if there wasnt anything important and valuable in your emails then fair enough, but if not then acting fast is the key.
also you should change the passwords and alternate email to anything that is connected to that email (facebook, myspace, banking etc) asap.

As a rule perharps until I feel more secure,I dont patronize online banking and transactons. U spend months tryin 2 rectify a simple ATM error how much more askin one of our many egocentric banks 2 reverse an online fraud!, D risk has neva really been worth d convenience 2 me.As 4 my social sites dey were d first things i salvaged.

sorry!