My computer is sending out spam and there is nothing I can do to stop it!

Viruses and worms
21

Pondus, the log I was talking about had not been requested. Was asking for clarification. Thanks.

22

Valinorum, as the previous poster said, the screen shots are different, so with that warning, I managed to follow your directions for the most part. There wasn’t a winsock option, but in its place is “repair network” so I checked that.

I have a second internal hard drive that I use for a backup drive, and it is trying to repair that as well. I did not see any options for which drives to check. I’m not even sure if there is much of an operating system on it, because all I ever do with it is to throw things on there and then later delete them. It’s running every repair twice, but it’s taking much longer on the second drive. I don’t suppose I ought to stop it? Anyway, unless you tell me not to, I’ll keep it going, even if it takes another 24 hours.
Thanks for your help.

23

Valinorum, windows repair has been running for 8.5 hours and is only on 7 of 21 repairs. Is this expected behaviour? I’m not sure what to do now.

24

Looking at the progress right now, it seems to be stuck on the repair of Internet Explorer which started about 5 hours ago. I just don’t know what to do. Help!!!

I may regret this, but I decided to stop the repairs and restart the computer. I hope I haven’t messed it all up. But the repair didn’t seem to making any progress, and meanwhile the firewall and antivirus program was turned off.

25

Sorry, I was away. Due to so much hassle, it would be easier if you format and reinstall your OS.

26

Oh that’s too bad. I don’t think I’m up to that. Would it help to look at any of the log files that have been generated from all the messing around I’ve done?

Or, any other ideas?

27

Let me consult with my colleagues first. This is not something I suggest often.

28

Thank you. I just wanted to note that I don’t have any other problems with this computer. Other than the spam and the recent Windows crashes I had that were fixed with a Windows restore, everything seems to be running normally. I encountered problems with Farbar which crashed my computer, and Zoek which for some reason I could not get access to run. But I was able to generate a log from system file checker, and the Windows Repair tool operated normally until it got to the IE repair. I am able to download and run software, like the Malwarebytes, so it seems overkill, and beyond my current ability to do a reformat.

I have been wondering if the spam I am apparently sending out is really coming from this computer. The mailer daemon/postmaster emails I am receiving for bounced emails are now coming back from people who are not in my contacts and some are in Italian.

If I can send anything else that would be helpful, such as the cbs log or any of the returned emails, please let me know. And thanks for your help.

29

just a thought but, could your email account be compromised?

30

Lotan, I have discussed it with my ISP (I don’t use a hotmail-type email service), changed my email password several times, and even changed my internet account password. Have run all the antivirus and malware scans I can think of, and upgraded to paid versions in some cases. If it is my email account there is no way I can think of to detect it. I have 4 devices, and if one device is responsible, it is my desktop running Windows Vista. But I’m not really sure if it’s malware on my computer, or if my address is being spoofed. The best advice I have so far is that it must be malware, undetected by aVast, MWB, and several other one-time online scans for malware.

31
I have 4 devices, and if one device is responsible,
Uninstall all mail clients / mail apps ... if still sending spam it must be your mail account that is compromised
32

Thank you. Can you tell me how to do that, and get it back without losing all my email? I am using the Windows Mail program that comes with Windows Vista, not Windows Live Mail or Outlook.

33

Do you have web access to your mail account? … seem you have :wink: https://webmail.shaw.ca/

Is all your mail saved on the mail server, or are they removed from server when downloaded by the mail client?

34

I do have access, but the webmail has limted atorage capacity. I keep a lot of email in Windows Mail. I know how to export and import the email, I just wouldn’t have a clue how to uninstall and reinstall it since it comes as part of my OS.

35

you could just unlink your email from the program that should work

36

I don’t know how to do that.

37

If you change mail client settings / server name and wrong ports for pop smtp then your mail client will not be able to connect

also consider this > “From” Spoofing: How Spammers Send Email that Looks Like it Came from You
https://askleo.com/from_spoofing_how_spammers_send_email_that_looks_like_it_came_from_you/

How to Track the Original Location of an Email via its IP Address
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-track-the-original-location-of-an-email-via-its-ip-address/

38

Valinorum, Are you around? I sent you a PM, because I’m still hoping for your guidance. Last I heard from you, you were going to talk to your colleagues about it. Maybe I need to run the scans or the repair tool in safe mode. If so, which would you suggest first: one of the malware scans, or the repair tool? What do you think of the ESET scan? Or did you come up with any other suggestions besides reformatting?

Thanks so much for your help.

39

Valinorum? It’s been several days since I heard from you. Have you given up? Are there other malware removal experts willing to help? The one thing I haven’t tried besides to reformat is to run the repair tool or any of the scanners in safe mode. After the problems I’ve had I’m hesitant to do this without a little guidance.

40

I replied to your PM.

is to run the repair tool or any of the scanners in safe mode.
You said that our tools did not run even in Safe Mode. Try to execute this command from the command promt -- 
chkdsk C: /f

Try to re-download FRST and scan.