Take a small problem on your computer, say a strange toolbar that got downloaded accidentally, or maybe a utility program like PC Cleaner [not Ccleaner]. And for some reason it won't uninstall through the Windows process. Do a search and you may find a site specifically suited to that very problem. DO NOT DOWN LOAD IT. My CPU fried. I was getting error messages and the system hanging - it seems my security software supplied through my service provider had expired and some malware was getting through. As time went on it was stalling more and more and needed a cold boot. One too many times it seems as several of the capacitors on the motherboard went to their great reward. New computer time. But this time I was prepared, everything was backed up and all drives were preserved. [It is a long, lugubrious endeavor to retrieve email addresses and especially bookmarks.] When you go to one of these sites, a window will likely come up and provide a number along with a warning that you have a few hundred "problems" with your computer and if you call this '800' number they will 'restore' your system free of charge. Nope. What you finds if that they look on with a remote program they get you to down load and, what a surprise, they are offering to fix all these "problems", but you have to sign up for a technical support contract, usually starting at around $79.95, but what you really need is the full deal at $199.95. Call a local tech. These outfits are sweatshops like telemarketers and use the same conversational techniques. It is seriously doubtful that they even have any techs on staff. I know its not all that new, but then I haven't had many computer problems in several years.
I've seen this crap you're talking about. I figured it was a scam and avoided it. +1 for me. Thanks for posting this. I'll help a lot of people.
I've seen it too, F&L, and was advised by a techie that if that screen listing all the probs with your computer pops up again, don't try to 'x' it out... go to your Task Manager and close it from there. Glad you're back.. we missed you!
I lost a lap top to a similar situation. You end up with a virus that pretends to be an anti-virus program and holds your computer hostage until you pay the company money. I tried to remove it but was unable, and it continued to mess up the system more and more as the days went by. I wish I could find their building so I could burn it down. They want to destroy my property, I should be able to destroy theirs.
The "Scanning your drives now" scam goes back to the first flash banner ads. I always thought it was funny watching it "scan my PC files" on my Mac. But anyway... There are a few things you can do to protect yourself from viruses and malware. I'm going to assume you're on PCs because there just aren't the same kind of problems with Macs. However, the fact is that any computer that connects to the internet is vulnerable and there are a few simple things you can do to protect yourself. Most apply to both Macs and PCs 1. Make an account for everyone who uses each computer and have everyone log in and log out when they're done. 2. If you have a wireless router make sure it's requires a password. WPA2 is good if you have the choice. 3. There are two kinds of firewalls - hardware and software. Your wireless router will have a hardware firewall built in. Use it. And turn on the firewalls on each computer. 4. With any router, wireless or otherwise, you can "connect" in two ways. From the outside via a cable or wirelessly, where all it does is provide you with an internet connection, or to its config pages, usually at 192.168.1.1 or something close. Make sure you password protect this as well. 5. Whenever you go to a website that you're going to process money or personal information through there is one rule above all others that will keep you safe. It's so important I'm going to be obnoxious and type it in all caps so somebody too lazy to read all this might still catch it: NEVER GIVE AWAY PERSONAL INFORMATION, PAY ANY MONEY, OR OTHERWISE SHARE STUFF ONTO A WEBSITE YOU DIDN'T NAVIGATE TO YOURSELF. If you find yourself at an Amazon page because it popped up or it's just there behind another one don't use it to buy stuff from Amazon. Close it and open a new one. The only bank website you should trust is the one you get to by typing www.mybank.com (or whatever) in the address bar. Clicking on a link in an email that takes you to your bank's page might seem legit. But if you didn't type the address yourself (or choose it from your bookmarks, ones you trust) close the page and start again. Would you get medical treatment from some guy who showed up at your door saying he was a doctor? No. You would call one yourself. This is the same. If you want antivirus software don't click on an ad. Google antivirus, have a look at the first page of hits, maybe go to consumer reports and see if they have reviews. But when you decide on symantec (or whatever) type in www.symantec.com yourself. This will keep you safe from most of the rest of the scams (a slick one involves your downloading some video file which, when you play it, demand you download some codec to make it play. It takes advantage of the fact that you might have spent quite a while downloading and if it's just this little file why not? It's free, right? You can guess the rest.) 6. Finally, for the brave, reinstalling windows afresh will fix most viruses. If you keep regular backups on an external drive you can wipe the main drive without a second thought. But remember that if you're going to wipe a drive with a fresh install format it first. There are places on hard drives that viruses like to hide out in that aren't erased by simply rewriting the OS. Backup, format, reinstall. Hope this helps!
There are firewalls and then there are firewalls. The "firewall" provided by a cheap router is, as often as not, nothing more than a NAT service it has to provide anyway--not actual stateful packet inspection. Second rule; never make a financial transaction unencrypted. If it's not https, it's not worth it. Unencrypted data might as well be emailed to everyone you know.
I was scanning IMDB about 3 years ago and got a super virus on my computer. I had to reload the software and erase everything. After a couple days of work and finally getting a functional computer again, I decided to switch from Windows to Apple. I visit even more porn sites now and haven't had a problem in 3 years. By the way, IMDB is International Movie DataBase and not a porn site. I do visit regular sites occasionally. Apple is definitely more resistant to irritating viruses than Windows.
Re firewalls - yes, I know, but even a cheap router will catch most of the pings and port scans leaving a lot less noise on the other side. But using them both provides a whole lot more protection than using neither, which I'm constantly noticing is the case at friends' places etc. And having said all that, it's the social engineering scams that seem to be getting people more now. Like the one in the OP, or phishing scams. I do wonder how profitable they are - do the people who perpetrate them do it as a full time job? I picture sweat shops in Russia but I bet it's a whole lot glamorous than that. Have you read any stuff about the folks here who make it their jobs to taunt and torture the people running those Nigerian scams? By the end of the main article I read I was starting to feel sorry for people who were trying to bilk seniors out of their life savings....
