Rhonda I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.
My hotmail account was hacked twice and stupid emails were sent to all of my contacts. It is so scary how easily these hackers and scammers get access to your emails, passwords etc.
We just took a course on email and internet security at the bank. I thought I was pretty up to date on how to keep my computer protected. I learned a lot from the course. One of the main things is changing your passwords frequently and using lots of symbols and numbers along with random letters. I always have used those combos but usually use a name or word instead of random letters. (easier for me to remember but easier for a hacker to figure out).
Another tip we learned was to have at least 3 email accounts. One for friends and family, one for paypal ,ebay etc and one for business stuff such as your online banking.