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Escalating Gmail/Spamming Attacks

Posted by kdawson on from the be-careful-out-there dept.

We've been getting submissions about an uptick in compromised Gmail accounts in the last few days, but nothing that could be substantiated. Robert McMillan did a bit of digging and now reports in PC World that "Google is investigating a growing number of reports that hackers are breaking into legitimate Gmail accounts and then using them to send spam messages. The problem started about a week ago but seems to have escalated over the past few days. ... [I]n forum posts, Gmail users note that the hackers appear to be sending spam via Gmail's mobile interface — which gives mobile-phone users a way to check their Gmail accounts — and wonder if there may be a bug in the mobile interface that is allowing criminals to send the spam. ... Google says there's no Gmail bug. ... 'Spammers may sometimes use a mobile interface to access accounts they have already compromised because it's simpler for bots to use this method at large scale.'" Here's how to tell if your Gmail account has been accessed by bad guys, and what to do about it.

7 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. Re:This happened to my significant other by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 1, Funny

    She had a pathetic password, so I wasn't too surprised.

    Was it "penis" or "hunter2"?

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  2. Very true. by T+Murphy · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can verify this trend. Several of my aunts have switched to Gmail lately, decreasing the spam I get from Hotmail/Yahoo and being replaced by Gmail-based spam.

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  3. Re:This happened to my significant other by drachenstern · · Score: 4, Funny

    She had a pathetic password, so I wasn't too surprised.

    Was it "cravf" or "*******"?

    I don't understand your post. It appears to have been garbled on the way in. Can you repost?

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  4. Re:Got mine too by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 4, Funny

    old pass: gMALE
    new pass: Eyjafjallajökull

  5. Re:This happened to my significant other by Conditioner · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh wow, Slashdot has this cool new feature that masks passwords when you type them in a post !!! check i tout, this is my password: *******

  6. Re:This happened to my significant other by xtracto · · Score: 2, Funny

    The slashdot feature is really cool, this is why I see:

    orly?

    Here's my password: Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  7. Re:Got mine too by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ah, so I see you're trusting the security of the cloud?

    Thank you, i'm here all week!

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