A new problem: on my PC with Windows I use Thunderbird to get my email from different accounts. A few months ago one of those accounts was hacked and I changed the password. (FYI, I received an email demanding a ransom; it came from my address (!) like I sent it to myself) As you know, just days ago I managed to install Mint on my laptop; that installation includes Thunderbird mail. Yesterday I found again an email from a hacker, which I deleted from both PC and laptop without even opening it. I immediately changed my Verizon.net email password via AOL website ( as you probably know, verizon mail goes now through AOL).
And this is when Thunderbird stopped transfering my Verizon mail, on both PC and Linux laptop.
I can get it thou when login to AOL directly.
I called the Thunderbird tech support and spoke for half hour; bottom line: my Thunderbird account has been corrupt/blocked because of suspicious activity and if I am willing to spend $99.99 the guy will fix it, it would take one hour, with me waiting on the phone… I declined and decided to turn to you guys for an advice.
I am used to Thunderbird and like it.
On my Win PC under Thunderbird I have quite a few folders filled over the years with mails I want to keep.
Any suggestions how to mend this mess? If I delete Thunderbird and reinstall it, I will lose all those folders I am afraid.
I am counting on your expert advice. Thank you.
Okay my first thought here was that thunderbird never charges for tech support so I went here and : https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/avoid-and-report-mozilla-tech-support-scams
As you can see it clearly states they do not.
Okay as far as solving - If you have Timeshift which was in place before the event took place then you should be able to restore everything from there. The same in Windows with system restore.
If your mail is IMAP then you will not lose any folders by re-installing it. However, personally I would go further and firstly back up personal folders and do a complete clean install of everything. I am not not sure if you want to go done that road,
If you have POP3 then I am not so sure about what happens then, but someone here will have an idea.
Also have you tried getting the mail through your browser and if so what was the result. I have had problems with Thunderbird in the past (not the same as yours)and found that if I could get my emails and all folders were there then it was a thunderbird problem not the email client.
So my advice for what it is worth is 1) check your email etc through your browser if it is okay then you know that for sure. (2) check your setting POP or IMAP and rather than let thunderbird do the settings do them yourself to make sure they are as per you email client (3) if there is still a problem then you can delete thunderbird, but do it through synaptic packet manager - just search for it and then mark for complete removal and then reboot. The only trouble I see with that is the setting might remain the same when you re-install. and lastly then try a complete re-install and encrypt your whole drive and your home folder for extra security.
I am pretty sure others here will have other ideas, so before doing anything check them all out as one us may have had a similar problem. Oh and if you get your solution can you let the community know how you have done so
It’s just to scare you, but it doesn’t actually mean anything.
This is your first big problem. Change to a good e-mail provider and let this useless one be in their own corner.
Is the one I use for almost everything .
If you actually want to solve the issue, you have to do the following:
- Erase your HDD. (If possible, don’t backup anything. Or at least only the most important stuff.)
- Re-install Windows from a disc or USB stick. (All this has to be prepared on a different computer.)
- Change passwords for all your accounts and use good passwords instead. You can search how good passwords are built.
If you are careless enough to get your account hacked, it is probable that you got careless enough to get your system compromised. So the only real solution is to erase your entire HDD and do a clean re-installation. Everything below this measure won’t guarantee safety.
As far as I understood the issue resides on Windows.
Yes I see that re-reading it now and agree he has to do a complete clean install as that is the only clear answer. I was just covering the Mint bases as well which I made that suggestion. I made the suggestion about a previous restore that you can do to take the system back to a point before the problem.
Your solution however, I agree is the one I would go for in this case
I only refer to your question regarding your Thunderbird mails…
You can backup the whole stuff by copying the folder(s).
Finding them:
- Open the Windows Start menu.
- In the the “Start Search” box, type in %APPDATA%
- Click the “Roaming” item that appears on the menu.
- In the Windows Explorer window that opens, choose Thunderbird → Profiles . Each folder in this folder is a profile on your computer.
Another possibility:
Using the Add-On “Import-Export-Tools” to make a backup of your profile/mails.
It’s clear, if you may do one of these methods, you have to scan the outcome for malicious software bevor using it on the new install!
When the original hack happened I was not “careless” - I had the ESET Total active, purchased on eBay half a year earlier.
I downloaded the program from the official ESET site, my license and passcode were accepted and activeted. I was sure it was working…Around the time when I received that ransom demand, I noticed ESET stopped working. I called their HQ in Bratislava and was told that my license # had been cancelled. They traced that number to a distributor in S.Africa, they had no explanation how it ended up being sold by an eBay seller registered in Greece. Bottom lie, it was a fraud. I cannot blame myself…
As to my laptop with Mint - I removed Thunderbird and re-installed from Timeshift. No difference, no go. At least there were no folders I wanted to keep.
The PC is a different story - I want to have those 25 mail folders alive.
Will do some homework how to proceed, but for now not going to drop my current email address/provider - too much hassle. In the meantime opening mail thru AOL website, pain in the behind. Waiting for more ideas from the forum. Thanks.
Having an anti-virus program activated isn’t careful, if your online behaviour is inappropriate. If you have no anti-virus program activated but your online behaviour is good, then you are careful. It’s also mandatory to check out who you buy stuff from exactly and where you download it, because that’s crucial to security.
If you purchased form Ebay then have you reported it to Ebay? I was once caught out and they were very helpful. You should never purchase any security software from there and always go to the vendor’s official site. I think in this case it is a lesson you may have to take and learn from.
not to try and quash the discussion, but this latter part about your concerns with thunderbird was getting buried underneath what had already been marked as a solved topic. i think that may serve to limit the helpful views you will get so i went ahead and moved the relevant posts to another thread 
Just spent almost two hours total talking with AOL Tech support. The first guy managed to make Thunderbird on my PC (Win7) work. He was still trying to fix the same problem on my iphone when we got disconnected. I had to call again, and again I had to go through all my identity verifications and explanations to be finally switched over to actual Tech. Bottom line: I want to change my mail password and hope the problem with Thunderbird does not come back …
i’m glad someone was able to help you get moving in the right direction. hopefully with a bit persistence, they will be able to get your phone sorted also.
are you having trouble changing your password through aol’s (or verizon?) online portal?
i was reminded of this part of your issue when i was reading a post on reddit about email spoofing. obviously i can’t speak to the specific email that you got (and it is always a good idea to change passwords and beef up security when anything feels off), but wanted to share an article about email spoofing to let you know that the presence of a couple strange messages doesn’t necessarily mean all of your personal information has been breached: