Network Hacked

[easysurfer]

It's interesting that they didn't manage to drain the account immediately. Maybe it takes a while, or maybe they sell the account information to other crooks for future use.

This has really made me think about what I'd do if someone got access to a computer of ours. Think of all the possible vectors of attack! We take so many things for granted, like our e-mail accounts being used to verify account changes at banks and financial institutions. All someone needs is access to the account and knowledge of which institutions to go after.

When possible, I have important emails set up with 2FA.

 

[ERD50]

Does OP also need to have their router 'cleaned'?

I'd be concerned that the bad guys have info on the router, and could have installed some malware there (wasn't there a big notice about vulnerable routers a while back?). Or just knowing the model, they could try the default passwords.

-ERD50

 

[explanade]

Wow! OK first I heard of computer scammers trying to get bank routing information for access to a checking account on calling in. Glad you were able to close your checking account in time. Whew!

So glad you posted and got quick feedback.

If the scammers are overseas, it would have to be an international wire transfer.

I would think that would be harder to pull off than an ACH transfer.

And way harder than a fake credit card charge, though I guess they’d need a merchant account.

Thing about scams which exploit people who aren’t technically aware is that it’s harder to demand crypto coin payments.

 

[Rustward]

They buy gift cards from online retailers then sell them to places online that pay about 90% of face value. It is difficult to track, and usually in amounts that the parties involved consider too small to worry about. This is done completely online and takes just a few short minutes.

 

[Bestwifeever]

OP you are helping so many people by sharing this here—we will all be a bit more careful and less trusting of potential scammers thanks to your reminder of how easily this can happen and the responses are valuable too. So glad you are getting the possible harmful fallout addressed.

 

[mpeirce]

...go one step further and change your username if they will let you do that.

Do this!

Everyone should make sure their "important" account like banks, investments, etc. use unique account usernames other than those used in less secure places - like in this forum.

Not just unique passwords, unique account usernames.

 

[Souschef]

I just got 2 e-mail notices from my bank about someone trying to use my card. I was told to click on a link which looked like my bank's link. I put my cursor over it and it was totally different-to the spam file!
Also I just got a call from a voice that said grampa? I said yes, but i knew right away it was the same scam they tried to pull on a friend of ours.
I hung up LOL

 

[ivinsfan]

OP here sorry I am late getting back to you all. I took my laptop in first thing this morning to Geek Squad at Best Buy. They still have my laptop and I am using my old one for this. They didn't ask for a credit card they asked for check information. Their transaction hadn't gone through so I closed my checking account. I also changed password from my wife's phone. I am so glad I checked this thread last night at 6:30. The overwhelming responses that this was a scam
hit home and got me going to hopefully resolve. I admit I am not computer savvy and refer to myself as a technophobe, even though I worked in IT (managed a development group). I really appreciate everyone's quick responses and concern. That is why I came here. Will follow up when I get my laptop back. Thanks again for all the great feedback. I trust this group to provide the truth.

Glad you seem to be on top of it..still not sure I wouldn't be looking for a new laptop.

don't be too hard on yourself these things happen. We all want to think we would be smart enough to sniff out all scams but it could happen to anyone.

I certainly consider myself properly paranoid but last spring we had a stretch where my DH had a second emergency type open heart surgery where things went terribly wrong. He made it though alright but the surgery stress, longish ICU stay with extra time in the hospital and just the entire situation ended up almost frying my brain. I most certainly could have fallen for a scam during that timeframe as my critical thinking skills were in the tank. I basically disconnected from everything except the medical office info and texting, didn't trust myself to think rationally.

 

[Livefree]

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.

I too have received scam emails from PayPal.


One thing you can do is float your house over the hyperlink in their message,without clicking on it, and the address from the sender will show up. Easy to tell if it's not legit.

 

[Rustward]

I too have received scam emails from PayPal.


One thing you can do is float your house over the hyperlink in their message,without clicking on it, and the address from the sender will show up. Easy to tell if it's not legit.

Houseboat?

 

[TwoByFour]

The moderator should make this a sticky topic. It is quite useful to keep a running account of all the scams out there.

 

[ERD50]

I too have received scam emails from PayPal.


One thing you can do is float your house over the hyperlink in their message,without clicking on it, and the address from the sender will show up. Easy to tell if it's not legit.

I'm going to advise, do NOT do this (other than for educational purposes).

It often is easy to see a non-legit address. But they sometime can (and do) use an address similar to the legit one, like add a letter or "." or something. Like "pay.pal" or "paypa1" instead of "paypal". You might miss it.

For financial sites especially, go to the site directly and log on. The message should be there as well.

I almost never click on a link in an email. I say almost never, because if I just had some activity at that site, was expecting an email, and it comes with proper ID (like my name, rather than "Dear xyz member", and it is related to what I did, I might (probably will) click. But I would never enter my password on a site that I got to through an email.

Better to treat everything as questionable, rather than try to figure out if it is questionable.

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

I get these all the time telomeres me my Apple ID is no longer good and call this number to get it fixed. They probably need my old old iMac to mine more bitcoins.

 

[brucethebroker]

OP you are helping so many people by sharing this here—we will all be a bit more careful and less trusting of potential scammers thanks to your reminder of how easily this can happen and the responses are valuable too. So glad you are getting the possible harmful fallout addressed.

+1.
Sometimes tech savvy posters imply people who fall for these computer scams are stupid. Not so. I know many examples of fraud/scams from past careers in insurance and real estate. Some victims were Dr.s, engineers and college professors-learned folks, but who were not experts in "everything", so were easy prey.
Thanks for your transparency, OP.

 

[DEC-1982]

I am grateful to OP for sharing. These things happen often enough to lots of people. I did wonder why OP didn't go to the Geek Squad in the first place, but I see OP did that eventually. Or else rebuild the OS from scratch (although very recently I struggled with the Windows 8 to 8.1 update for my rebuild).

 

[Chuckanut]

If the OP is lucky they just took his money. Often they load malware on the computer, the gift that keeps on giving. Lately, the malware is being used to mine crypto currencies. They skim off a bit of your cpu power to enrich their crypto wealth.

 

[RunningBum]

Let's be clear about one thing though.

Asking yourself if you're being scammed is a very good question, and a warning sign that you should be taking every precaution.

Asking the person in question if they are scamming you is very foolish and not doing any due diligence whatsoever. If you find yourself saying that, you need to redirect the question to yourself and take all those precautions.

 

[easysurfer]

+1.
Sometimes tech savvy posters imply people who fall for these computer scams are stupid. Not so. I know many examples of fraud/scams from past careers in insurance and real estate. Some victims were Dr.s, engineers and college professors-learned folks, but who were not experts in "everything", so were easy prey.
Thanks for your transparency, OP.

A person may have a strong skill on one thing but not on something else. Also, this situation maybe isn't so much about skill levels but levels of trust.

The scammers are playing a numbers game. Eventually, will come across someone who's guard is down and fall for the scam.

 

[Idnar7]

OP here. To be totally honest I worked my last 15 years in IT. How I got scammed I can't exactly explain. They are so sophisticated and professional in their approach it is dis-arming. I do not consider myself computer literate in spite of my work. My laptop didn't work and I needed to use it then. I am basically trusting. I just got duped. I feel stupid and appreciate those that understand this can happen to those that are vulnerable.

 

[MichaelB]

So many people wouldn’t say a word. Thanks to the OP for sharing this with us, and staying with the thread, keeping us updated.

 

[Jerry1]

I feel stupid and appreciate those that understand this can happen to those that are vulnerable.

The only people that don’t understand are those who never had it happen to them. I’ve gotten taken a couple times in my life. Nothing significant at all, but when you realize what happened, you feel stupid. As you reflect later, you realize that these people (using the term loosely) are good. As others have said, thanks for sharing. Beyond a warning to others, this thread has been very interesting. Thanks.

 

[Rianne]

Yes, TY OP. I hope this thread continues as the internet world changes frequently. The updates, are you trusting the updater? The e-mail links, donation links, the downloads you think are legitimate etc. too many to say. MY DH at a megacorp years ago was sent an e-mail from a friend to look at a picture of Anna Kornikova. It sent a virus through the entire company. Computer systems down for a few days. I bought an IMac and in security will only allow downloads from Apple App and trusted sources.

 

[segfault]

OP needs to find a local, trustworthy computer person. When I did that type of work regularly, I'd either pick up their desktop or laptop (or have them bring it to me) and keep it a good day or two to run various antivirus / antimalware scanning and cleaning tools, installing security updates, etc. Especially with an older machine, it can take that long just for it to run the scans and install updates. I set their computer up on my bench and let it do its thing while I did other tasks while waiting for the results of the various scans. If it wasn't salvageable, I would then back up their data and reinstall the OS. Typically I billed between 2-4 hours of labor, and they ended up with a PC that was running as well as possible for its age.