To whom it may concern,

If this isn't a forum for email privacy issues, then please direct me to one that can help me. I am on a 2006 Dell XPS 400, Windows XP, I use IE 8 or AOL 9.1, use DSL, unsure what kind of router. I have had an aol email address since I started sending emails over 10 years ago. Starting a few months ago, my aol email address has been hacked by an unknown entity about 3 times. This unknown person then sent inappropriate spam messages (supposedly from me) to at least 15 people from my email address book each time.
Is there any way that this can be fixed or prevented? I have applied for some jobs recently, who have not emailed me back yet. Nevertheless, once they contact me, I would be mortified if I "unknowingly" sent an inappropriate, harmful message to them in the future. Do I need to only use my non aol address from now on? Please advise me on the steps to take when you can!
(I have the programs Spybot, Ad-Aware, and AVG who haven't reported any recent threats)

Thank you for your time,
Jennifer K.