Two nights ago I opened an email from an aquaintance that just had a 'subject' but no content apart from a link to a BBC news page. Boring, but when I went back to my yahoo emails I found 38 new ones which all seemed to be the same, so I deleted the lot without opening. Shortly after that Yahoo made me change my password, aleging that they had detected an unauthorised attempt to access my account from the United States, and sometime after that yahoo seemed to seize up entirely. An hour later, on returning to Yahoo they announced that they were having a few problems which they were hoping to fix; which they did. Today, after kindly allowing me to open a few of my emails they suddenly directed me once again to their password changing page.
And Mail doesn't work either; it said initially that it couldn't access Yahoo and asked me to type in my password. I did so, (the new one), and the little screen disappeared but Mail just sat there, refusing to connect but not telling me why or slapping my wrist or anything at all.
Sounds like its time to bite the bullet and change your email server. It's a bit of a fag because of notifying all your email recipients. However this can be made easier by sending a group email, or several so that your new mail server does not think you are sending spam. Your ISP will already have supplied you with an email address and of course you will have available an iCloud address provided by apple.
It is unlikely that your friend's email dumped a virus on your computer, mac viruses are rare. It is more probable that your Yahoo email has become corrupted.
Several members have reported problems with Yahoo at recent meetings.
Thank you Lionel,
I've created an account at Outlook.com and I'd like you to have the honour of being the first to know my new address: [undisclosed email]. Now for the hard bit!
I stumbled across an app called AdwareMedic yesterday, which found two instances of a thing called spigot lurking deep in my system, which it deleted. I suspected my problem was adware related because the original email I received did contain an ad for an app, as well as the link to the BBC page.
Although I did manage to get a new email address (hotmail) that too began beggering me about so I've been using yahoo still because I prefer the way it presents the email to me. However, it no longer seems to recognise the groups I've created in yahoo, so I look at my inbox in yahoo then go to Mail to open it and reply/forward it. Mail however, unless I'm careful and click on the message very gingerly, then springs three copies of it, one on top of the other, on top of the original. If I reply it then sends it out twice. Is this related to my double click speed?
If you choose not to trust programs such as AdwareMedic, there is an Apple support page here that has instructions for manually removing several varieties of adware (I have added the link to the Useful tips to maximise system reliability thread in Discussions too).
Since prevention is better than cure, always try to download software (and extensions and codecs etc etc) from trusted sites. If a random web site suddenly offers you anything program-like, especially if it's in the wilder borders of the internet, don't accept it (a classic attack is a movie that allegedly needs a new codec to be added to QuickTime to be playable - it's simply too dangerous to accept).
Thanks Mick and Tony,
No Mick, I'm running Mail 6.6 on Mountain Lion.
I wouldn't do a thing like that Tony, I'm a good boy. Or rather I try to be, it was just that I was taken unawares late at night by an email that I thought had come from a bloke I'd been talking to about an hour before, because the heading seemed to be related to the meeting we'd just attended. A fascinating anecdote which I'm sure you'll find entertaining; I recently joined a club in which there are two chaps both called Robin. When the meeting was over we all stood around chatting and I was the first to leave. I'd been unable to dine before leaving home owing to the peculiar requirements of a particular drug I'm currently taking, so I was jolly hungry and anxious to rectify the situation ASAP. So, dinner over, I looked at my emails to find one from Robin A, to whom I thought I'd been talking, which said, "Were we boring you?" and contained a link to what appeared to be the BBC website. It contained a further link related to something called Whatsapp, which I wasn't silly enough to click on. That's not right. I mean 'upon which I wasn't silly enough to click'. But the damage was done, and you already know the sequel. It wasn't until the following week that I discovered when talking to him, that Robin A, as I'd supposed, was in fact Robin B, and that Robin A had not been present at the meeting in question.
When you say Mail opens three copies, is it always three? Have you elected to view conversations? If so, it may just be opening all the messages in the conversation which I think is default behaviour.
And by 'sending two', do you actually see two in your sent box and does the recipient receive two? I ask as if you're using the Mail Activity pane (bottom left of the window) which tells you how many emails it's receiving or sending, then those figures have been wildly wrong for ages! It's nothing for it to say 'sending 16' when you're only sending 1
Eric Jervis 