Question from Louise: I’m in serious trouble Rick, and I need your help ASAP.
Almost two weeks ago I heard my brother was in a car wreck and he wasn’t expected to live.
I grabbed a few things and threw them in a suitcase and flew out to Utah to try to see him before he passed away.
I didn’t make it in time to see him but I spent 5 days out there with my family and came back home the day after the funeral.
When I got home I saw that my house had been broken into and ransacked. They took almost everything of value including both of my computers and my iPad.
Can you help me with a serious problem I’m having with LastPass?
The police came out and did some investigating but now I’m worried about the thief getting into my accounts.
I borrowed a friend’s laptop and tried to log into LastPass to change the password but I couldn’t log into my account. The thief must have changed it on me.
I called the bank and they changed the password to my online account. Luckily no money had already been withdrawn.
I was able to use my friend’s computer to change several other passwords but there were a few that I couldn’t change.
My question is do you know of a way to change the master password on my LastPass account without being able to log into it?
Rick’s answer: I’m so sorry you had such a miserable week, Louise. And my heart goes out to you and your family over your brother’s passing.
I’ve written several posts explaining the dangers of using a password manager, and your situation is just the latest real-world example of those dangers.
To answer your question, you could always try using the tools listed on this page to recover your master password if you’d like to attempt to keep using your your current LastPass account.
Just be aware that the person that stole your devices has already had access to your stored passwords for the better part of two weeks if he was indeed able to log in to your account (and it certainly appears that he was).
For that reason, I strongly recommend that you use the tool on this page to simply delete your LastPass account outright and be done with it (after you have retrieved all of your passwords, of course).
Again, I am very sorry about the loss of your brother and everything that has happened to you since his passing. I hope this info will be of help to you.
Update from Louise: Thanks for your help, Rick. After reading your warning about the dangers of using a password manager I decided to just go ahead and delete my LastPass account. I wish I had read that article before all of this happened.
Bonus tip: The thief was apparently able to either find your master password somewhere or he was able to guess it.
That’s why it’s important to choose very secure passwords and then prevent them from falling into the hands of others.