Yahoo mail contact list?

How do I keep my contact list in my yahoo mail account safe from hackers?

• Recently an email went out (from my account) with a link promoting cialis or viagra to a list of contacts in my yahoo "Contact" account. The emails weren't found in my outbox, and the list of contacts it had sent it to were never part of a group email I had ever sent out. I don't think that someone figured out my password and hacked my account, I think that yahoo mail itself was hacked and they had access to email people using my contacts in my list. Anyhow, How do I prevent this from happening?

• Answer:

  You are correct. They did not use your password to get in. We don't know exactly how they are getting in. Hundreds of YMail accounts have this happen every week. Most users are told that they must have clicked on a malicious link in an email. But many users are certain that they did not click on any links. So it remains a mystery. Yahoo is not telling us what is happening.... maybe they think that more spammers will invade if they explain how the current spammers are getting into YMail accounts. The spammers grabbed your Contact list and departed. They sent out the spams to your contacts. Since they did not send them from your account, you won't see them in your Sent file. You can run your anti-spyware but the spammers are usually long-gone. They usually send out 1 or 2 spams and then they are done (with your account). Recently we are seeing more YMail users who are having their accounts invaded.... with big problems. They can't get into the accounts at all. Or they can get in but their Contact list is completely gone. Some of them have 10 years of information in their accounts and they are shut out. Yahoo has set up a mobile phone system where you can protect your account. Read the details in the December 13 entry on Yahoo's ymailblog.com.