AOL email hacked: Several users complain about compromised accounts

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-aol-hacked-email-phishing-twitter-20140421,0,6586634.story

By Salvador Rodriguez
Chicago Tribune
April 21, 2014

You've got (spam) mail.

Several AOL users are complaining on Twitter that their email accounts 
have been hacked and are being used to send out spam to others.

Multiple users have said that their accounts have been affected despite 
not being used in a long time. Among them is Los Angeles Times Food Editor 
Russ Parsons.

"I've gotten a couple of emails from friends telling me that my AOL 
account had been hacked and that they were getting spammed by it. The 
thing is, that account has been closed for at least two years," Parsons 
said in an email.

It's unclear how widespread the problem is or what is causing it. Users 
are complaining that changing their accounts' passwords is not resolving 
the problem, as is usually the case when an email account has been hacked.

AOL has not addressed the situation and could not be reached for comment.

[Updated 3:50 p.m. PDT April 21: AOL said it is working on resolving the 
issue. The company said users can go to AOL's help website to check on the 
latest updates and said that users should contact AOL if they believe 
their account was hacked.

[...]



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