What to do After Your @mail.usf.edu Account is Compromised

Overview

This article will show you how to verify your @mail.usf.edu account information is correct and will show you how to remove any malicious filters or forwarding rules which may be on your account.



If your @mail.usf.edu account is disabled or if you feel your account has been compromised, please reset your NetID password immediately and contact USF IT at help@usf.edu or call (813) 974-1222. Your NetID password can be changed by visiting netid.usf.edu and by selecting the Change your NetID password link.


  1. Log into your @mail.usf.edu account by visiting mail.usf.edu or by selecting USF Gmail from the Email tab of MyUSF.


  2. Click on the Gear icon in the upper-right corner of your inbox and select See all settings



  3. On the Accounts and Import tab, ensure that the Send mail as section correctly displays your name and email address. If it shows something different, click the edit info link towards the right to make a correction. 



  4. On the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab, ensure there are no filters or blocked addresses that you did not set. 



  5. On the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, ensure that there are no Forwarding rules set that you did not create. (Below is an example of a compromised account with an unwanted Forwarding rule.)



    • To remove this unwanted address, select the Remove option from the left drop-down list.



    • After confirming the removal you should see a Forwarding section similar to the one below.



  6. Your email should now be back to normal. Often the person compromising the account will set the Forwarding rule to send the original email to the Trash. If expected emails are missing from your inbox, please check your Trash for the missing content.