In the News: Email Accounts Posted Online

You may have heard or read about email accounts and their passwords being posted online. While I’ve read different versions of how the person(s) responsible was able to get the email account information, it was not a result of any insecurity at Yahoo! It looks to be a result of phishing attacks. Should you feel that one of your email accounts was affected by the recent publication, whether it is a Yahoo!, Hotmail or Gmail account, I would suggest changing your password as well as other account security information like secret questions and alternate email addresses.

We are aware that a limited number of Yahoo! IDs have been made public, it’s uncertain if any of those email/password combinations have resulted in any accounts being compromised. Online scams and phishing attacks are an ongoing and industry-wide issue and Yahoo! takes great effort to protect our users’ security.

We also have the following online resources that provide information and guidelines on email safety:
Our anti-spam site: http://antispam.yahoo.com/
With a phishing prevention sub-section: http://antispam.yahoo.com/phishing
Our help pages: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/abuse/
And of course, I’ve posted a number of articles about online safety to this blog: Spotting phishing emails, how to spot online scams, avoiding the lottery scams, and account recovery help

Here are a couple FAQs that provide additional information:
Have accounts been compromised because of this?
We are unable to confirm whether accounts have been compromised at this time. However, we strongly suggest that consumers take caution in securing their email and other online accounts by regularly changing their passwords, and updating account security information.

What do I do if I think my account has been compromised?
You should change your password immediately. Also, if you are unable to enter your account, you can take steps to recover it here: https://edit.yahoo.com/forgotroot

We take online security seriously at Yahoo! We strive to make you and your Yahoo! account as safe as possible. Of course if you have any questions or issues with your account, please contact our Customer Care team.