Lately, I've been overwhelmed with bounce-back emails saying things like, 'Your message wasn't delivered to [my email]@[weird domain] because the address couldn't be found or is unable to receive mail.' I've already changed my Gmail password, but the emails keep coming. What could be causing this?
2 Answers
It really sounds like someone might still have access to your email. Check if you have any forwarding rules set up or anything that could let someone still view your emails.
This situation is actually pretty common. It's not that your email has been hacked; what likely happened is that someone has spoofed your email address as the return address for their spam. So you aren't sending out the spam, but you're getting notifications about the bounced emails because they're disguising it as coming from your address. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do here. A lot of people notice this happening more often with Gmail accounts because they tend to have better reputations and can get past spam filters more easily. I never get these types of messages on my Zoho or ProtonMail accounts.
Ugh, that's not the answer I wanted to hear. Do you have any tips on how to tighten security? I already use a password manager with unique, complex passwords everywhere, plus 2FA on most accounts. I changed my Gmail password as soon as I started getting these emails.