Network Hacked

[sheehs1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoByFour Nobody has to remotely access your computer on Windows, in fact you don't even need to call Microsoft or anyone else. That is what is a scam, getting you to call them. All you have to do is ignore it. It cannot harm you if you just close the web site that popped that up, or just hit the little "x" in the upper right corner of the pop-up windows. In fact you probably won't see it at all if you (a) use the most up-to-date version of browser and (b) install Security Essentials which is Microsoft's free antivirus.

Interesting TwoByFour. That didn't work on my Mac. For one, there was no "X" to close out the pop up window. It wasn't just a pop up. It filled the entire screen. For two, I had already "shut down" 2 or 3 times. When I selected "do not" bring up the tabs that were open before the shut down, it still came back up and locked out anything else I could do. Hence my phone call to Apple Support. Next time, I will know what to do. Wrote it down.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheehs1 Interesting TwoByFour. That didn't work on my Mac. For one, there was no "X" to close out the pop up window. It wasn't just a pop up. It filled the entire screen. For two, I had already "shut down" 2 or 3 times. When I selected "do not" bring up the tabs that were open before the shut down, it still came back up and locked out anything else I could do. Hence my phone call to Apple Support. Next time, I will know what to do. Wrote it down.

That is correct. Those rogue pop-up windows won't let you close them. You do sometimes have to force quit the application.

And then knowing how to relaunch Safari with no previous windows open is important.

[NW-Bound]

OMG! The OP got owned big time!

During the 5 hours, the scammers were busy surfing the OP's PC, looking for tax files and any kind of financial info and downloading his personal files. As others have said, he should stop using his PC immediately, and seek help.

Here's a Youtube video of a man who reversely hacked the scammer's computer, and saw the financial info the scammer had obtained from his previous victims.

Note that the Youtuber set up a virtual PC to allow his scammer to get into, and not his real computer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFRbUhhQmZs

[jim584672]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corporateburnout I got that call from the IRS a couple of months ago and I'm still waiting for the police to arrive at my door.

Seems like one group got arrested and a new one has come in now. People are fooled by this

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound OMG! The OP got owned big time! During the 5 hours, the scammers were busy surfing the OP's PC, looking for tax files and any kind of financial info and downloading his personal files. As others have said, he should stop using his PC immediately, and seek help.

Exactly! That is exactly what all the "working" time was for.

Change all passwords, including email, etc.

Just never, ever give anyone remote access to your computer over the internet.

[sengsational]

OP, what number did you call? What does it say when you Google that number?


Vanguard called me the other day. Sounded legit because the agent hinted that I had sent in paperwork, which I did. But when she started with the security questions, I said "Let's see... you called me, so I'm not absolutely sure you are who you say. Can I call you back?". She said "Of course! I understand." and gave me the 800 number, which I googled and found on the official Vanguard site.


My voice is my password at Vanguard, but this was a division that wasn't on that yet. Anyway, my call back, after security questions got the little paperwork thing sorted.



Google is your friend!

[easysurfer]

We haven't heard back from the OP. Hopefully, his computer isn't totally possessed by the scammers by now .

[Sunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim584672 Seems like one group got arrested and a new one has come in now. People are fooled by this

I'd be careful about judging people who fall for scams. Yes, a lot of the scams seem so outrageous and obvious, but even the brightest among us can fall prey.

Mass scam attempts can reach people who would not normally fall for a scam but do because of a lot of reasons, including timeliness and coincidence. In the case of the IRS call, although I don't know the details, but what if somebody had just found out their employer made a mistake on one of their travel reimbursements and that night they get a call from the IRS? Maybe a bad example, but https://www.veracode.com/blog/2013/0...ineering-works lists another of a CEO being compromised because they were dealing with a family member that had cancer and a cancer charity scam caught them off guard.

Yes, some scams are so bad you'd think nobody would fall for them. And some are even purposefully bad, with the thought that the scammers only want to deal with people who are on the hook for the shiny object (money from Nigeria's crown prince, etc.) and ignore all the grammar mistakes. But there are a lot of sophisticated scams as well.

Or just plain, dumb luck on the scammer's part catching somebody off guard who on any other day of their lives would have scoffed at the attempt.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer We haven't heard back from the OP. Hopefully, his computer isn't totally possessed by the scammers by now .

Well, at least he has been off-line from this forum for a while:

• Last Activity: Yesterday 06:36 PM

But that was still ~ 4 hours after I posted:

Quote:

OP is still on line

Hopefully OP will report back when things get straightened out.

-ERD50

[easysurfer]

I almost fell for a scam recently. Got an email scam pretending to be from Paypal. So happened I had made some purchases recently from Paypal. But the email actually sounded "too official" which raised red flags.

[bw5972]

Scam for sure.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Quote: Originally Posted by NW-Bound OMG! The OP got owned big time! During the 5 hours, the scammers were busy surfing the OP's PC, looking for tax files and any kind of financial info and downloading his personal files. As others have said, he should stop using his PC immediately, and seek help. Exactly! That is exactly what all the "working" time was for. Change all passwords, including email, etc. Just never, ever give anyone remote access to your computer over the internet.

I would not use the affected PC to change passwords on e-mails, bank accounts, etc...

The scammers could have planted a keystroke logger, and capture all the new password changes.

Basically, they can remotely monitor and see what the victim types on his computer, account login, password changes and all.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer We haven't heard back from the OP. Hopefully, his computer isn't totally possessed by the scammers by now .

Hopefully, he's unplugged the computer and brought it to a reputable repair shop. I do hope he lets us know how it went.

[GravitySucks]

So did this really happen, or is OP sending out scary Halloween stories?

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GravitySucks So did this really happen, or is OK sending out scary Halloween stories?

Maybe the OP pulls our leg, and did not fall for any scam.

But the scenario actually happens to tens of thousands of people, so this thread is good to bring the scamming threat to readers' attention.

[ocean view]

I sent a link to this thread to my mom (85) and told her to read through it and be aware. I could totally see her being vulnerable to a scam like this. Fortunately she replied that she’s learned to ignore those pop ups and fake phone calls from social security.

[Dash man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheehs1 Interesting TwoByFour. That didn't work on my Mac. For one, there was no "X" to close out the pop up window. It wasn't just a pop up. It filled the entire screen. For two, I had already "shut down" 2 or 3 times. When I selected "do not" bring up the tabs that were open before the shut down, it still came back up and locked out anything else I could do. Hence my phone call to Apple Support. Next time, I will know what to do. Wrote it down.

Care to share the process they told you?

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I would not use the affected PC to change passwords on e-mails, bank accounts, etc... The scammers could have planted a keystroke logger, and capture all the new password changes. Basically, they can remotely monitor and see what the victim types on his computer, account login, password changes and all.

Oh - this is very true! You need to use another device that you are sure is not compromised. I was hoping the OP was keeping their affected computer offline.

[TwoByFour]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 That is correct. Those rogue pop-up windows won't let you close them. You do sometimes have to force quit the application. And then knowing how to relaunch Safari with no previous windows open is important.

I have not seen one of these in years so I am going off memory here, but my recollection is that I closed either the pop-up or the tab in Chrome that it came from and it went away. My point was that you don't need Microsoft technical support to get rid of it.

If you're really worried, hit the power button (on a PC, no idea what to do on a Mac) hold it down until the computer just shuts off.

In either case of how you get rid of the pop-up, you need to run a virus scan.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustward You were probably the victim of a CFP's side hustle. Those people are crooks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB The only thing I didn't know about this scam was that there is over a 51% chance that a Certified Financial Planner planted the malware. Amazing.

I know CFPs are not popular on this site, but accusing the entire industry of being crooks without even a word on why this might be so is really over the top. I suppose you folks "heard it on the web, so it must be true".

BTW, I don't use or even know a CFP and I doubt I ever will use one other than at Vanguard. I am hoping they don't fall under the category of crooks.