A major email security scam has taken place today where hackers compromised over 20,000 Gmail, AOL and Yahoo email accounts and posted the login details of them online. Just the other day it was found where over 10,000 Hotmail accounts were compromised and login information was posted online.

It is apparent that their is a phishing scheme happening where hackers are able to obtain thousands of login credentials from users of Hotmail, and now, AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Comcast and Earthlink accounts. The phishing scheme must be rather advanced as they are able to obtain the login information of over 30,000 accounts combined.

Many of the email service providers have taken action to address this situation such as in the case of Gmail where Google is forcing password resets on all of the affected accounts.

Precautionary Tip: Users of the other services should reset their password regardless to ensure that their account is not used by an attacker or that they do not become a victim of identity theft.

We cannot stress it enough; the best thing to do in situations like these is to reset your password. In addition, it is recommended that you avoid using the same password for multiple web sites or online applications.

When was the last time you changed the password to your web-based email account? Will you be taking action to change it now after reading about this incident?