Invitation virus

A few weeks ago I received an email from a trusted friend, saying I was invited to an event. I clicked on the link, and attempted to log into the site with no success. Regardless, it seems like a virus was attached to the email and replicated itself to all contacts associated with the email account. I’ve heard from a number of people who received “invitations” from me, and were unable to log into to see the (nonexistent) event.

Any suggestions how to rectify this? Many thanks.

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Alexandru_BD

Hello @805Sharie and welcome to the Community.

It sounds like your email account was compromised by a phishing scam. I'll share some steps that may help to rectify the situation and mitigate any further damage:

Immediately change the password of your email account. Ensure the new password is strong and unique.
If your email provider offers 2FA, enable it to add an extra layer of security.
Inform your contacts that your email was compromised, and warn them not to click on any links from the previous email. Apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Use Bitdefender to scan your computer for any malware or viruses. Remove any threats detected.
Ensure your operating system, browser, and any antivirus software are up to date with the latest security patches.
Look for any changes that may have been made by the attacker, such as auto-forwarding rules or linked accounts.
Check for any devices or applications that have unauthorized access to your account and remove them.
Report the phishing incident to your email provider. They may offer additional steps to secure your account and help prevent further issues.

Adopt best practices for email security, such as not clicking on links from unknown sources and verifying the legitimacy of emails before responding. At first glance, an email may seem legitimate, but if you look closer, usually there are always hints that something is off. It's good practice to use a different channel to communicate with the sender and ask them to confirm if they've sent anything to you via email.

Detailed steps for common email providers

Gmail:

Go to your Google Account settings.
Under "Security," change your password and enable 2FA.
Review "Recent security activity" and "Manage devices" for any suspicious activity.
Check "Settings" > "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" for any unauthorized forwarding addresses.