Email is a can emails be hacked trove of valuable information that hackers want to get ahold of. When they gain access to your email, they can use it as a gateway into other accounts like your bank account or social media platforms and steal passwords to those accounts. Hackers can also spy on your online activity through your email correspondence and gather personal information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers to sell on the dark web.

Empowering Cyber Savvy: Essential Topics for Effective Security Awareness Training

A clear indication of hacking is when you can no longer sign into your email with your password. Once a hacker gains access to your account, they often change the password or lock you out. Another sign is if you notice messages in your “Sent” folder that you didn’t send. You should also keep an eye on your email settings and look for unfamiliar devices or locations in the logs. Many email providers have a feature that shows the date, time, and IP address of all the people that have accessed your mailbox.

Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the San-Diego based Identity Theft Resource Center, explains that your email reveals more about you than you might think. When someone looks at your inbox, they can get a blueprint of your daily life from your social media posts to your Spotify account. If you do find that your email has been hacked, follow these tips to banish the hacker and protect yourself and your contacts from potential fraud. Change your security questions ASAP and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for your account.