How to set up an intruder alarm on your email account

Thu Mar 6, 2008 10:26PM EST

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This may or may not come as a shocker, but according to a recent FTC survey on identity theft, 16 percent of the victims said their information was stolen by people they knew, which included friends, relatives, neighbors, and coworkers. This is very important because it serves as a reminder that we need to take extra precautions whether we're at home or at work. It's probably a good idea to disable cookies, so you don't save login and password information of your accounts, and you should never keep sensitive information where thieves can easily find it.

I've gotten several emails from readers asking me how they can find out if someone has accessed their personal email account, so I thought I'd point you to an excellent post written by PCWorld's Erik Larkin on how to set a hacker alarm on your web mail box. This is a good way to find out if anyone besides you is logging into your email account.

Here's the gist:

  1. Open an account with OneStatFree.com, and use a disposable e-mail address to complete the registration process.
  2. You'll receive an email from OneStat with an attached file. Save the file, note the account number, and then delete the email.
  3. Rename the file with a name that would catch a hacker's eye like "AccountPasswords." Save the .txt file as an .htm file so it opens up in a web browser.
  4. Send an email with the .htm file to the account you want to monitor. Use a subject title that is eye catching.
  5. Wait for the hacker to take the bait. If the attachment is opened by anyone else but you, the hit counter will record their IP address.

Hackers are very clever, so you want to change your password frequently to something that's a little harder to crack.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Related:

Tips to make your inbox less vulnerable to identity theft

 

 

Top 5 Posts

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  • 26 Posted by docnboats@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    Seriously, what do you do with the HAcker;s IP address once you have it? Can you find out who they are?

  • 27 Posted by pistolla98 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    That's messed up that some people are reading other people's e-mail. It's pathetic that they have nothing better to do. They need to get a life. I'm glad that Yahoo can tell people if anyone has been reading their mail. This way the problem can be dealt with at the start.

  • 28 Posted by robynbergeron on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm very sure that all these tricky, clever "hackers" log in from their home IP address, without trying to mask it in any way, and they just go straight through the web interface to read your totally insignificant, useless mail, most of which contains ridiculous forwarded jokes written about 8 years ago. Certainly, none of them cover their footsteps, break into the gargantuan server containing EVERYONE'S useless forwarded jokes... oh.... wait. That would be a better thing to do if you were a hacker. I think the author of this ridiculous author, aside from obviously working in the marketing department of the promoted company, doesn't know an apple from an orange. There are hackers, there are social engineers (people that trick you into giving you information that they can use to get into your account), and finally, there are nosy, no-good co-workers, friends, and family members. The latter group is about as far away from being hackers as you can get. Well, unless you're a hacker, and all your co-workers and friends are hackers, in which case, you probably know better than to use your mail for anything at all :)

  • 29 Posted by dbowers on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    How about not doing anthing or saying anything that you need to worry about if someone reads your mail... works for me.

  • 30 Posted by jg0197 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    A "Hacker" would never fall for this . Even if they did they would be using a "hacked" ip address and the address you get would be meaningless. Take the following steps and actually secure your stuff. 1) Get a program like Windows Washer (www.webroot.com) to clear all your personal information from your computer every time you leave it. 2) Get yourself industrial strength encryption like PGP (www.pgp.com) to encrypt your files and email. 3) Get a personal VPN like SurfBouncer (www.surfbouncer.com) to encrypt your internet connection and prevent real hackers from seeing your data flow across the local network.

  • 31 Posted by yemin44 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    What good would getting the IP address be? The hacker could access your stuff from different machines -- perhaps even ones at public places such as libraries. Again, I think, the hacker could renew or change his ip address using ipconfig

  • 33 Posted by nobwright2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:40PM EDT Report Abuse

    There is another SIMPLE and STRAIGHTFORWARD device which would alert us to someone using our accounts, and that should be provided by all intelligent and forward-looking E-mail PROVIDERS such as Yahoo, we would think. Each time you LOG ON to your account, the provider should show you the date and time of your LAST LOGON. This feature is provided by many banking and brokerage accounts. This would help alert us to tampering right away, without resorting to the dubious subterfuge of fake "honey-pot" messages. So come on Yahoo ... let's try something SIMPLE.

  • 34 Posted by jtdog187 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    Would this work? Microsoft Fingerprint Reader Input Adapter? Say goodbye to password hassles. Now you can log on to your computer and your favorite Web sites with the touch of your finger, without having to remember all those passwords - simply place your finger on the receiver whenever a password or username is required.. Thanks

  • 35 Posted by yemin44 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    Actually the IP address may be useless and in some cases misleading. One can release and renew ones IP address so as to have a new one. Those who dial up (if any) get a new IP address each time. These hackers may use some public terminals such as those at libraries.

  • 36 Posted by bellasario@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    This shows how to see if someone is logging onto your WEBSITE but what if you're using a simple yahoo account, where do you "paste to your webpage"..... the instructions on Onestat say nothing about a simple yahoo or hotmail account, where do you put the info?

  • 37 Posted by dark8eyes on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    geee... there are more stupid comments from people with sbcglobal.net em... tsk tsk tsk...

  • 38 Posted by lillianmariscal on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just recently, I received a Phone call and E-mail from my local bank, that someone was trying to hack into my checking account. I was told by the banker to chamge my user name and password, and to never leave your banking name on your browser/favorites, or bookmarks, as hackers can get into your system by hacking into your E-mail accounts. Also get a very good, well named anti virus with a firewall on your computer, that way hackers can't get into your computer system. Also shut down your computer when not in use. Lillian Mariscal

  • 39 Posted by nateslacum on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    OK, seriously the 16 percent, maybe 1/2 percent would look at your email address. Why? There is nothing to gain from that.. Hello America the 16 percent that take your information are not taking your email account there taking you SS number and you bank rol money from automatic debit..... (yes coworkers that have that info) If i was a hacker why would i want to sift throu days of emails. This Blog is about fear... bogus. dont buy into the scare. I should start a web site just to show how all this crap is bogus....... (THE real way to sniff emails are more obvious technically then this, This is a Scar Blog.

  • 40 Posted by didoine on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    If a family member reads your email on your computer using your passwords, YOUR IP address will come up. And if you have a large family you still won't know who logged into your computer. Your only hope to catch someone is using a keylogger... But then you become as bad as the person you are trying to track... change passwords regularly.

  • 41 Posted by turned_a_page on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:23PM EDT Report Abuse

    What's to say that a hacker won't be aware of this application and lodge a script that could somehow come back through the hack notice? I'm no coding wizard or pc nerd but this system/application seems hackable also. Are their any viewable test stats on the app that give credit to how reliable and safe OneStatFree.com is?

  • 42 Posted by nateslacum on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    Stupid, plain out non tech person wrote this.

  • 43 Posted by svsudhirus on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    I guess hackers won't open the .htm attachments. They save them and then open them using an editor to see the page source. Once they see the IP tracking code well they'll know your game. After all they want to be one step (many steps actually) ahead of the normal users. I also use Roboform like Jaguar07 to save passwords, bank records, atm, credit card info, licence, insurance policy details etc... This nifty program is invaluable to regular pc users. amazing features - once you've gotten used to it, you can't live without it. sudhir, India.

  • 44 Posted by nateslacum on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    I almost FEEL sorry for posting here, i think i am should be charrgin money for what i am talking about.

  • 45 Posted by nateslacum on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    If yall want a breakdown on how stupid this is Ask me i will tell ya...

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