spam emails sent to my contacts?

Once a hacker has copied your contact list they no longer need access to your account in order to send "spoofed" emails that appear to come from you. The following article has more information.

Account keeps sending spam - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN2159.html?impres...

Hackers make changes to your account settings that can direct your incoming emails directly to your Trash folder or forward your emails to a different email address. The following articles can help you recover a hacked account.

How to tell if your account was hacked - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN2090.html?impressions...

Changing your password is only one part of securing a compromised account. I would also recommend changing your security questions and answers. The article below shows the other settings to check.

What to check when securing an account that has recently been compromised - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN3516.html?impres...

Check for any unknown applications or website that have linked to your Yahoo account. These can be used to access your account. Delete any that you didn't activate.

How do I manage external application and website connections? - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-account/SLN2631.ht...

Here's a link on restoring your emails, contacts, and other settings - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN2160.html?impres...

If you are unable to change your password you will need to contact Yahoo Customer Care.

In the US Call 1-800-318-0612

International users Call 1-408-916-2100

If you would like email support for this issue start here - https://io.help.yahoo.com/contact/index?page=home&...

Select "Yahoo Account" for Product.

Select "Suspicious Activity" under Topic.

Select "Someone broke into my Yahoo Account" under Subtopic

Click on the "email" link under Recommended Options.

Fill out the form completely. The more information you provide the better your issue can be handled.

If you use your Yahoo password at other sites you will need to change the password for those sites as well. I recommend using a password manager like Keepass or LastPass to create and store strong unique passwords for the sites you visit. You can also save notes like your secret questions and answers to the password entries. LastPass can automatically log you in to any web site you have stored in its database.

Here's some other tips for keeping yourself and your account safe.

Make sure your anti-virus is up-to-date and run a full virus scan. I also recommend downloading MalwareBytes and run a full scan with this program also. I recommend that you run full scan with both programs on a regular basis.

Safeguarding your Yahoo! Account - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN2080.html?impres...

Activate Second sign-in verification

Second sign-in verification - https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN5013.html?impressions...

This was probably caused by someone obtaining your ID and password and copying all your contacts and email. From that point on they do not need your account. Anyone with a separate email program can use any address as the FROM address. There is no way to stop this method. They can continue even if the account is closed. They already have the list. To make sure they are not actually in the account change the password.

Here is further information:

http://help.yahoo.com/kb/index?locale=en_US&y=PROD...

What to do if your account is sending spam: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/account-continues-send-s...