OUR email accounts often contain vast amounts of information that we wouldn’t want in the hands of a hacker.
Sometimes cyber criminals access an account without the user noticing.
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This is dangerous for numerous reasons including the fact they could start resetting your passwords for accounts linked to your email.
Google recommends four steps for Gmail users who are concerned that someone else is using their account.
These steps are listed as “General tab”, “Accounts and Import tab”, “Filters and Blocked Addresses tab”, and “Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab”.
Those tabs may sound confusing but Google also explains each step.
It says: “There are a few settings you can check to make sure nobody else has access to your emails.”
All four tabs are located under Settings when you access your Gmail on a web browser.
The “General tab” lets you check your signature to make sure it hasn’t been changed.
You can also check if your “vacation responder” has been tampered with.
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A criminal may change these first to pose as you or someone else via your account.
The “Accounts and Import tab” directs you to the “Send mail as” setting to check whether all the email addresses listed there are related to you.
You can also make sure the “Grant access to your account” and the “Check mail from other accounts (using POP3)” sections haven’t been changed.
The “Filters and Blocked Addresses tab” helps you stop mail from being forwarded to an unknown account.
It also flags any filters that are having your mail automatically deleted.
Finally, the “Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab” lets you check that your messages aren’t being forwarded to places that they shouldn’t.
Google advises: “If you think someone has unauthorized access to your account, reset your password immediately.”
