Question
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Topic
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Suspicions of email hack
I am in a confusing situation regarding my email ( and maybe even my phone or computer) being hacked.
I am currently in China and have been accessing the internet on my Mac through tethering with my phone’s mobile data. A few days ago, I was notified of a suspicious login for a Microsoft Outlook email of mine. I am sure I did not log into the email, so I am very suspicious that someone else did. But, the details of the situation make it confusing.
The IP of the login is very similar to mine. The login ip is 112.97.61.164, and my current IP differs from it on just the last 4 digits. Other information related to it is also the same (ISP: China Unicom Guangdong, Organization: China Unicom Shenzen network). When I try to look up its location through online websites, the location is either the same or different but close to mine. Some websites say its the same, other say its different.
In the outlook email notifying me of the suspicious login, other details of the login is very similar to mine: Mac Book and Chrome browser.
One noteworthy detail is this. The login was around 7:30AM Sunday morning. I started using my mac that morning some time between 7 and 8AM that morning, and I found out later that my Chrome browser was still logged into that outlook email (I logged in previously a month ago). Could it be that when I opened my Mac or Chrome browser, my browser somehow logged into or opened up an outlook email page – and this triggered what to Outlook is a suspicious login (since I normally do not sign into this email from China, but in America. I did sign in previously from China though…)? Seems absurd, but who knows.
Another noteworthy detail is regards my VPN usage. I don’t use a VPN on my phone usually, because it prevents me from using a VPN on my Mac. I usually do use a VPN on Mac, but that weekend, I stopped using it for an hour or more and was still using the internet. Could my non-VPN usage on my phone or those few hours on the weekend have exposed my cyber security somehow?
Has someone else actually logged into my email? If not, then what exactly happened? The details of the login are very similar to certain details of my login information. Or, maybe someone is hacking my email, but their details are just very similar to mine (happen to be using a Mac, on chrome browser, and also accessing internet through a phone sim card by same company). What’s going on?
