How to tell if your email was hacked (and what to do next)

Business email has become the number one target for fraudsters. A single compromised inbox can hand over your invoices, your client contacts, your passwords and even your bank accounts. For a small business in Trois-Rivières or elsewhere in the Mauricie, a hacked email account is not a small technical incident: it is an open door into the whole company.

The good news is that a hacked mailbox almost always leaves traces. Learn to recognize them and you can react before the damage spreads. Here is how to tell whether your email has been hacked, how to check it in a few minutes, and above all which steps to take right away to regain control.

1. What are the signs of a hacked email account?

A hacked mailbox usually gives itself away through small details that do not add up. The faster you spot them, the less damage you take. Here are the most common signals to watch for in your Microsoft 365, Outlook or business Gmail account.

• Messages sent from your account that you never wrote.
• Contacts telling you about odd messages or suspicious links coming from your address.
• Emails disappearing or landing in the trash for no reason.
• Inbox rules created without your knowledge, for instance to forward or delete certain messages automatically.
• Password reset requests you did not trigger.
• An unusual sign-in alert from another country or a device you do not recognize.

If you notice even one of these signs, treat the situation as urgent. A patient attacker can watch your exchanges for weeks before striking, often right when an invoice is due to be paid.

2. Checking whether your address turned up in a data breach

Many accounts are not hacked directly. Your address and password end up in a data breach from another site, then get resold. Those lists circulate on the dark web and let fraudsters try signing in to your other accounts.

To check, use a recognized breach monitoring service such as Have I Been Pwned, which tracks the billions of addresses exposed in known breaches. Enter both your work and personal addresses. If yours appears, treat the associated password as public and change it everywhere you reused it.

The real danger is reusing the same password across services. One breached site and every one of your accounts becomes vulnerable. That is exactly what attackers count on.

3. What to do immediately if your email is compromised

When you are certain, or even just suspicious, that your email has been hacked, time matters. Every hour gives the fraudster another chance to send fake invoices or break into other accounts. Follow these steps in order.

• Change your password immediately, from a clean device, using a long and unique password.
• Turn on two-factor authentication to block the attacker from signing back in.
• Check for and delete any automatic forwarding or deletion rules created in your mailbox.
• Sign out of every active session to kick the intruder off your devices.
• Warn your contacts and clients that they may receive fake messages in your name.
• If sensitive data is involved, document the incident with your Law 25 obligations in mind.

For a business mailbox, these steps get complicated quickly, especially with several employees affected. A managed IT services team can secure every account, assess how far the breach reached and restore confidence fast.

4. How do you protect your email for the long run?

Reacting to a hacked mailbox is good. Preventing one is better. Most compromises are avoided with a few basic measures applied across the whole company, not only to management.

• Turn on two-factor authentication for every Microsoft 365 account, no exceptions.
• Use a password manager to generate unique, complex passwords.
• Train your employees to recognize phishing, the main way in for attackers.
• Put advanced email filtering in place to block malicious messages before they land.
• Monitor suspicious sign-ins and configure automatic alerts.

These protections need regular attention. If your business has no internal IT team, handing that monitoring to a local partner is worth it. Feel free to get in touch with a specialized team to assess your current level of risk.

5. Why are Mauricie small businesses targets?

Plenty of owners assume their company is too small to interest attackers. That assumption is exactly what makes them easy targets. The attacks are automated: fraudsters cast a wide net and hit the least protected mailboxes, whatever their size or their region.

In Trois-Rivières and across Quebec, small businesses handle valuable data: banking details, client personal information, contracts. A hacked mailbox can lead to wire fraud, identity theft or reputational damage that is hard to repair. Investing in prevention always costs less than managing a crisis.

Frequently asked questions

How do you check for free whether your email address was hacked?

Enter your address on a service such as Have I Been Pwned, which tells you at no cost whether it appears in a known breach. Watch the direct signs too: suspicious sends, sign-in alerts and unrequested password resets.

My email was hacked, should I create a new address?

Not necessarily. In most cases, changing the password, turning on two-factor authentication and cleaning up the rules is enough to regain control. Creating a new address complicates your setup and does not prevent another compromise if the bad habits stay.

Can a hacked email account infect my computer?

The account itself does not infect the device directly, but attackers use it to send malicious attachments or links. If you clicked a questionable link, have a professional scan your machine to rule out spyware.

Protect your business email in Trois-Rivières

A hacked mailbox never arrives at a good time, but with the right reflexes and some support, your business can recover and come out better protected. Our team in Trois-Rivières helps Mauricie companies secure their Microsoft 365 accounts and train their employees. Have a look at our cybersecurity and managed IT services or get in touch for a quick assessment of your situation.