My Yahoo email account was hacked

My mom sent me an email the other day, she asked "Do you really need this stuff?" Below her reply was an email that came from me, my email address. It was an advertisement for a male-enhancement medicine that, NO I don't need.

That was extremely embarrassing. The next day I received an email from a friend I haven't heard from in years, asking me "Why are you trying to sell me this stuff?". He was replying to another email that came from my Yahoo email.

I first deleted all my contacts and left only my own email address. The SPAM mails continued to be sent but this time I was the only recipient. There are two email that get sent, and they are generally contain the subject starting with RE: and then a number. The body contains just a link and a background photo. The link points to an online pharmaceutical company in Canada or an online famous-brand discount watch retailer. I don't make a habit of clicking on the links.

Next I tried to change my password but my Yahoo account is linked to an old AT&T account, so changing my password was not possible since I no longer had an AT&T account access.

I was able to go to my Yahoo profile and I found a section called: Manage Other Accounts to Sign-in. Inside this option were several websites that didn't sound familiar, so I deleted them all. I think these sites had enough access to send emails directly from my account even when my computer was off. I suspect it was controlled through some type of automated system that creates an email within my account and then sends it using my contacts.

I've searched online and it appears Yahoo isn't able to assist in this other than point out the obvious like "don't leave your computer unattended," "change your password frequently" and "always log out completely when using a public computer kiosk". Thanks Captain Obvious.

Yahoo also has a Security Sign-in Seal that I created which should help with the anyone who tries to log in my Yahoo account. I just don't believe someone is logging into my computer, it has to be a program generated inside my email account that automatically creates an email. Maybe there is a file embedded in an old email that triggers these emails to be sent from my account? For now all I can do is try my best to improve the security into my account.

It's very difficult to keep combating SPAM but if enough people let their experiences know, others can start to protect themselves before it happens to them. So check your Yahoo "Manage Other Accounts" for anything suspicious.