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[paw broon]

Please do not open any emails from me as my email seems to have been compromised and all my contacts are getting highly dubious, dodgy looking links purporting to come from me.  Any suggestions as to how I can fix this are most welcome.

[MarkWarner]

Tricky one. I am no expert, but the obvious conclusion is that you have a virus on your machine. BUT if you have accessed your email on another machine that could have been infected and stolen your contact list.

I would suggest you make sure virus checkers are upto date on all machines and I don't know what they are like nowadays but malwarebytes used to be great at picking up stuff that got through. This would be my first port of call.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ This is the free one ... I just googled they prob will try and point you to the pay version and maybe add a toolbar or two so just be careful.

You will need to change your email password ... I'd do it now .... and then AFTER you find out what has caused the problem and removed it change it AGAIN. Otherwise it may have grabbed the new one in the meantime.

Keep us posted!

[paw broon]

Thanks for getting back.  Malwarebytes shows no problem and I'm now asking Threatfire to have a look.  Changed my password.  I'll change my pw again as you suggest.
Been thinking about this and I wonder if it happened after I booked parking at the airport this morning 'cos the problems started this afternoon.  Been getting worried calls and mails from umpteen folk.  I need a cup of tea.

[mr_goldenage]

Beware my friend. This is how it started with my one computer. Then before I knew it I had lost all three of them. Mark is right on with is advice and I wish I had done that and acted sooner. good luck.

RB @ Work.

[alfje]

@ Paw:

In addition to what Mark said, also make sure your email-provider (is there a good term/word for it?) knows your email account has been hacked.
Unfortunately I once had to deal with it myself (it was a @live mail address) and it had been misused for sending spam-mail.
I've immediately used my browser to send a note to the Microsoft help desk, because @live is theirs.
A couple of days later I received an email in which I've been asked to change my password. There were some hurdles I had to take (a way of checking if I was the rightful user of that email address), but after that my email address was 'clean' again.
I have no idea what they've done, but it worked.

[misappear]

I received one purportedly from you through my email, but opened it on my school-issued iPad, so no harm done I think.  Just some goofy page about making zillions from home. 

Sorry to hear about the mess.  I will keep vigilant!

[paw broon]

Sorry.  After 4 scans with different anti-malware products, nothing, till Panda came up with a file from Jean Layette's blog which, it said, contained Adware/Rabio with an .exe after the title.  This was not a pulp file uploaded to CB+ but a small file on my system. Nor do I remember downloading it.  It's been neutralised.  But reading descriptions of it, it could be the source as I opened it a couple of days ago. None of the e-mails were sent from my account and my e-mail settings have not been changed.  Oddly, not all my contacts received mail from the hacker.  I seem to have re-taken control of my e-mails and have done what you advised, Mark. 
Fingers crossed.

[narfstar]

I did get one but saw that you knew