I quickly changed my account password and sent another email to all of my contacts with the subject line "Important – Do NOT Open my Last Email" and a short apology in the body of the message which explained that my email account had been hacked.  I then contacted yahoo! customer support to ask for additional advice and pasted below was their response.  I am copying it here in hopes that if your account has been hacked it might also help you.

If your email account has been "phished" (a term used to describe a hackers attempt to gain access into your account) and they were successful, it can be a scary situation.  Many people have only one or two main email addresses and most have become pretty dependent upon their email in-box for storing information.

If you have not updated your email account information and security questions I recommend you do so immediately.  It could mean life or death when it comes to retrieving a hacked account with your email support team.  Also, if you ever become worried that your account has been hacked, change your password immediately.  It's better safe than sorry.  Another way to stay prepared is to create a separate email account, one that is never given out, and adjust the settings of your main email account to forward every email message to your new email account.  This way, if your account is phished you will at least have a backup of all of your emails and information.

Good luck!  Hopefully you will never need to use the information below, but chances are you might so it is best to be prepared.

-Anthony

>>>>>>>

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

We appreciate the opportunity to address your report regarding Account
Security. Our goal is to provide you the best service possible,
especially when it comes to safeguarding your account. We have sent you
this auto-generated response as confirmation that our team has received
your report and also to provide you with information dealing with the
most common Account Security questions. Please let us know if the
following information does not resolve your issue and we will be happy
to assist you.

INVALID PASSWORD:

If you are unable to login to your Yahoo! account due to an invalid
password error please visit:

   http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/edit/id_password/edit-10.html

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD:

If the above information did not assist you, please attempt to request a
new password. Remember that our team may not reset your password or
remind you of your current password.

To change your password:

1. Sign in to your Yahoo! account using your current password by signing
in on any of Yahoo!'s personalized services (such as My Yahoo!, Yahoo!
Mail, etc.).

2. At the top of the page, click on either your user name or name that
appears in bold or the "My Account" link.

3. Re-enter your current password to continue.

4. Click on the "Change Password" link in your Account Information page.

5. In the space next to "Current Password," enter your current password
or the new one we issued to you.

6. In the space next to "New Password," enter a new password of your
choice.  Passwords are case-sensitive (meaning that PASSWORD, PaSsWoRd
and password are not equivalent), so be sure to take this into account
when entering your new password. It is recommended your new password not
contain any part of your old one, for security reasons.

7. In the space next to "Confirm New Password," confirm your new
password by typing it again.

8. Click the "Save" button to put your new password into effect.

STILL HAVING TROUBLE?

If you have followed the directions above, and are still unable to
obtain a new password for your account or feel that your account may
have been compromised, please reply to this email with the following
information you supplied during your Yahoo! registration.

Please know that we do have access to original account information and
that we will be unable to provide login or other assistance without
completely verifying your account.

* Yahoo! ID (If you cannot supply this ID, please give your alternate
email address given during your original registration)

* Your name

* Date of birth (mm-dd-yr)

* Your alternate email address

* Secret Question and Answer

* Your city and state

* Zip Code or Postal code you entered during registration

* Your country

PROTECTING THE PRIVACY AND SECURITY OF YOUR ACCOUNT:

   http://security.yahoo.com/

COMPUTER VIRUSES:

   http://security.yahoo.com/malware.html

GENERAL ACCOUNT SECURITY ISSUES:

   http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/security/

SPOOF INFORMATION:

If you received an email impersonating Yahoo! and would like to report
it please visit:

   http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/abuse.html

If you have already been tricked into giving your password, please
visit:

   http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/security/general.html

and supply as much detail as possible.

For more information visit:

   http://security.yahoo.com/password_scams.html

We understand this email contains a wealth of information and hope that
it has been of great assistance to you. If you have found that your
Account Security issue was not addressed within this message or if you
are trying to reach another area of Yahoo! support, please reply to this
email and include a brief description of the problem you are
encountering. We are happy to assist you in any way we can or send your
email to the appropriate support area.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Account Services.

Regards,

Yahoo! Account Services Customer Care
General Pool for Account Security

For assistance with all Yahoo! services, please visit:

   http://help.yahoo.com/

New and Improved Yahoo! Mail – better than ever!

Original Message Follows:
————————

>>REDFRMADV Case ID: XXXXXXX Web Hosting Abuse Phishing

Please help.  It appears that somehow, a spam message was sent to all of
my contacts today.  Below is an example of one of the message that
failed (but if you notice there are not any of these messages in my sent
folder.)

I have already changed my password but nonetheless I am concerned about
my accounts safety and also the safety of my friends who received the
email.  Is there anything further I can do besides changing a password?

Thanks you for your help,
Anthony

Posted via email from ntho: anthony cerreta