Has your Gmail account been hacked?

NC State Gmail accounts continue to gain the attention of hackers around the world who want to use them to distribute large volumes of spam under your name. According to OIT Security and Compliance, a good way to find out if your Gmail account has been hacked is to check your recent account activity.

To view this, open your Gmail account. At the bottom right, below the email body text, click “Details” to note the time, place, and connection type (browser, IMAP or mobile) for the last 10 logins. Below those, you can set the “Alert preference” to notify you of unusual activity. Be very suspicious of logins from foreign countries or at unusual times.

You may also want to check the following items if you suspect your account has been compromised:

• Sent mail for phishing messages or spam you didn’t send
• Trash for returned mail or excessive error messages
• Drafts for phishing emails ready to send
• Inbox for excessive returned or bounced email that you didn’t send

If you find evidence of account hacking, change your password immediately and check your “email settings” for:

• Filters that the hacker added to redirect responses to another location
• Forwarding that the hacker added to redirect messages to another location

For additional assistance, contact the NC State Help Desk at 515-HELP (4357) or help@ncsu.edu.