http://www.electronics-brand.com

This website has hacked into my hotmail account and has sent a spam e-mail out to my contracts and their friends and friends of their friends etc. They have gone on to delete all of my msn and windows live contacts. As soon as I realized what had happened, I immediately changed my password, question and answer. However, I would still like to recover my contacts. I believe I saw you had to list 3 addressed that had been deleted to recover the rest:

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

Thanks for you help, hope to hear back soon!

Hi!

We’re aware of this issue and we found out that Malware one of the causes. I suggest that you check out this link to learn more about this issue.

https://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2009/04/29/recent-reports-of-account-hijacks.aspx

Moreover, to help you recover your contacts, provide your e-mail address.

my email address has sent a spam message to all my contacts and my contacts list has been deleted.

my email is {removed email address}

3 contacts from my list are

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

can you please help me? or what do you recommend i do?? do i cahnge my passowrd? can my contact list be saved? will this happen again? how do i avoid it?

thank you for any help you can offer.

niamh

Hi Niamh, 

As mentioned by Celeste G, our product development team has verified that one of the causes of the issue is a malware being installed in computers. To know more about this and how to prevent the problem from recurring, read our Solution blog here: 

http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2009/04/29/recent-reports-of-account-hijacks.aspx 

As for your missing contacts, I have sent an e-mail to your account that contains the addresses that I was able to retrieve. The subject of the message is "Contacts."

I am having a similar problem. A spam mail is being sent out (repeatedly) to everyone on my contact list, however like everyone else above, my contact list is still intact. I have changed my password and secret question, is there anything else I need to do to keep this form happening again?

Thank you so much!!

@ Kaylan

Please refer to the solution post link provided by my colleague Alvin on this thread for information on how to go about your issue.

I currently have a Hotmail-Plus account and I am limited to my email usage. How do we rectify this situation.

Secondly, related to the above, someone has gotten into my contact list and sent emails or Spam mail to my entire list so I ma precluded form sending email today. This has happened repeatedly and is now becoming a nuisance and potentially costly. Business clients and friends are starting to complain. From what I understand, your Windows Live / Hotmail service is done direct and my contact list is not held or stored on my hard drive. I would hate to cancel Windows Live / Hotmail and move to another service but this cannot continue.

I did change my password today as advised.

Please help!!!!

Thank you for your time and attention!!

@ dchiusano

For your issue on sending e-mails, can I have your Hotmail account so I can check it?  Just post it here.  Also, if you’re getting an error message when trying to send e-mails, include it in your reply so I can properly investigate your concern. 

With regard to the spam e-mails that were sent to your contacts, Malware is one common cause of this.  Please read the solution article found in the link below to know more about this:

http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2009/04/29/recent-reports-of-account-hijacks.aspx

Aside from changing your password, I strongly suggest that you follow the other tips mentioned in the article to prevent this problem from happening again. 

I have the same problem....I was so confused to how this was possible when im not even logged into my account. How did someone retrieve and are able to send emails to my contacts??? Help me make it stop please!!

even when i go send an email my self i click compose messege...the messege pops up like they imprinted it in my account??

I am having this prblem as well :( I tried using the threads offered but the sites are unavailable. My contact list was huge and very important to my job. Help!

Hi rcastilh, 

As mentioned by Rosalie R, you need to visit the link to the Solutions post below.  It provides information about the increase in reports that we have received about accounts been hijacked and spam mails been sent to customer's contact list without customer's knowledge. 

http://windowslivehelp.com/solutions/safety/archive/2009/04/29/recent-reports-of-account-hijacks.aspx 

I also suggest that you check your "Signature" and "Vacation Reply." To make sure that there are no imbedded spams messages in it. 

Here are the steps: 

1. Log in to your Windows Live Hotmail account.

2. At the upper-right corner of the page, click Options and then select More options on the dropdown menu.

3. Under Manage your account option, click the Send automated vacation replies link.

4. Click the Don't send any vacation replies radio button.

5. Wait for the page to fully load then select the message on the box.

6. Press Delete on your keyboard to remove the selected message.

7. Click the Save button.

To check your  "Signature," please follow the steps below: 

1. Sign in to the Windows Live Hotmail website with your Windows Live ID.

2. On the Action bar, click Options, and then click More options.

3. Under Customize your mail, click Personal e-mail signature.

4. In the Personal e-mail signature box, if you see the message that is being attach to your e-mail, highlight it using your mouse and then press on the "Delete" button on your keyboard. 

5. Click on "Save" in order for the action you performed to reflect in your account.

Hi stellabella, 

You can refer to the advise I posted for "rcastilh" about accounts that have been hijacked and spam mails been sent to customer's contact list without customer's knowledge.   

If your contacts happen to be missing, please provide your e-mail address. Also, please provide at least 3 sample addresses that were in your contacts list. This is to verify that you are indeed the owner of the said account.  We will try to assist you in retrieving your contacts.

Thanks, Alvin! I followed all the steps you listed. My contact list has been deleted. My email is {removed email address}

The three contacts:

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

{removed email address}

@ stellabella

I’ve tried to recover your missing contacts using our Support Control Panel. I was able to recover some contacts and have sent them to your Windows Live Hotmail account. However, the recovered contacts may not include the all the contacts that you are looking for.