Recovering Compromised Yahoo Mail Account

kaleidoscope on 22/09/2024 - 23:26
Last edited 23/09/2024 - 17:38 by 1 other user

G'day, asking for a friend on a very serious and sensitive matter.

So basically, her Yahoo email was compromised earlier on the day and she had not used a 2FA method on it and was just through password login (afaik). Since being compromised, the hacker had linked the account with a 2FA app and added couple of Gmail accounts as recovery options. I was trying to help with the account recovery earlier on and to my surprise I could not find any other way to proceed beyond the 2FA or codes sent to the Gmail accounts added by the attacker (no ways to contact support or security questions, previous password checks etc…)

After going through these steps, they give 2 options to either close the recovery (wth???) or contact a specialist. The specialist button goes into a generic page such as this https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN6349.html and there are no other ways to contact the support center after that. My question is has anyone had a similar incident and managed to recover their yahoo mail account or know of a different method?

It's a very unfortunate incident for a sunday I should say and that happens to be her only email account she has used all this time and sadly not doing very well since then (seriously distressed, collapsed and worried, etc…)

Appreciate any help if anyone has any ideas

TIA!

—- Update 23/9 —-

They've managed to contact the yahoo support and simultaneously the account recovery wizard has started to show recover through phone number (which for some reason did not appear on previous occasions) and using that they have managed to restore access to the account after obtaining the verification code.
Following which they had managed to unlink the 2FA and other email accounts that were inserted by the attacker.

I'm not sure what triggered the process to allow code verification through phone number today (but hey that is a win!). Really glad the account access is now restored, and she can finally rest easy.

I've however informed that it's more than likely the attacker could have backed up the emails and attachments during this time, so it's wise to change passwords to other websites, possibly reorder the debit / credit cards one by one and most importantly I will help to setup separate kids accounts with appropriate access and parental controls so this kind of incidents are less likely to happen.

Thanks for everyone that helped out. If anything changes, I will update the post.

Cheers!

Computing Yahoo

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closed Comments

  • Gervais fanboy on 22/09/2024 - 23:33
    +4

    I know it’s a long shot but send a dm to their fb page admin https://www.facebook.com/YahooCustomerCare?mibextid=kFxxJD

    Copy paste your post from above maybe, as it’s already quite clear and detailed.
    Good luck mate and do make sure to update us along the way. I feel so terrible for your friend.

    • kaleidoscope on 22/09/2024 - 23:59
      +3

      Thank you! They responded on FB and said they will want the person whose account was compromised need to contact them through messenger or twitter support for discuss the other recovery options. They might want some id documents I presume, so I'll probably drive over there in the morning and help out.

      Cheers!

      • AustriaBargain on 23/09/2024 - 00:15
        +1

        Man, how far Yahoo has sunk.

        • kaleidoscope on 23/09/2024 - 19:29

          I know right… i’ve noticed some folks like to brag about how they still own a yahoo / msn or aol account but i’m so glad i got mine closed long way back when their quality of services and accountabilities started to degrade.

    • kaleidoscope on 23/09/2024 - 17:39
      +1

      Updated the post mate, thanks for your helpful info, that was very useful to have when there were absolutely no way forward.

      • Gervais fanboy on 23/09/2024 - 18:07
        +1

        Thanks for the update, I don’t even know your friend and yet, I feel relieved lol.

        • kaleidoscope on 23/09/2024 - 19:33
          +1

          Thanks, yes it was kind of scary to me too tbh. Sometimes these lowlifes don’t realise its not all about money or ransom and for some people it can have really serious meltdowns in their lives over this kind of matters.

  • 7ekn00 on 23/09/2024 - 00:11

    Once somebody has activated 2FA it's next to impossible for anybody to get the account "back" :/

    • jv on 23/09/2024 - 09:16

      Why?

  • Protractor on 23/09/2024 - 09:21

    Same IT model as Optus and Total Tools?

    • freefall101 on 23/09/2024 - 10:50
      +3

      Likely they used the same password with Optus and Total Tools.

      • kaleidoscope on 23/09/2024 - 13:39
        +1

        Not really afaik it was through some careless actions of kid playing online games on her computer.

        Sad scene, but it is what it is.

  • freefall101 on 23/09/2024 - 10:58
    +3

    Make sure they put a lock on their credit, OP. The only reason they've held onto the account is to use it to abuse it, do password resets on bank accounts and other valuable accounts. I'd be making sure they call all of their banks to ensure that the account hasn't been accessed in other ways. Also call the ATO to notify them.

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