Virus, Malware?

10 years ago

A couple of days ago a friend, who is an older woman with very limited computer skills, get a call from someone saying her computer had been "hacked." They had her look at some stuff (what she isn't at all clear about) but it said she had 2400ish "problems". She told them she didn't have time to address the issues and hung up.

So I go over there and run Kaspersky and it comes back with nothing. In Windows Microsoft Defender said there was no AV protection but MSE is installed. I uninstalled MSE and downloaded a fresh copy and reinstalled. A quick scan revealed nothing either.

She uses this computer for email and her husband plays Solitaire. NO financial stuff at all.

Is there something else I should scan it with just to be on the safe side?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

zep516
10 years ago
get a call from someone saying her computer had been "hacked." They had her look at some stuff (what she isn't at all clear about) but it said she had 2400ish "problems". She told them she didn't have time to address the issues and hung up.

That's a scam call, did they actually access the computer remotely? If they didn't I would not worry about anything.
owbist
10 years ago
I thought all of us got those calls every once in a while :~)

They prey on gullible or nervous people sadly, your friend was very wise to just hang up. They'll call again - and again I am sure.

Strangely my SIL said today that she had such a call at 8 a.m. so they are extending their hours to accommodate us it seems.
Related Discussions
Now I'm Confused!
Q
Comments (22)
If you install the latest version, it should recognize that there's a version installed and upgrade it. As far as Zonealarm requiring you to let Firefox access the internet, that's actually a good thing. I think the version that costs money is preconfigured with certain applications and their signatures so it's easier to use. Forewarned is forearmed: any time a program that access the internet is upgraded, you'll need to give it permission the first time it runs. This is also a good thing. Years ago (probably around 2000) some security expert discovered that all the firewalls except zonealarm could be bypassed by naming a malicious program iexplore.exe. Zonealarm recognized that it wasn't the valid iexplore and blocked it. Now they all have this feature. The key is that you can't just always allow an executable whose name you recognize access the internet. If you didn't install any upgrades, patches, etc, you shouldn't get a message that the program has changed. Note that IE is often upgraded with Windows updates. One other note is that sometimes Zonealarm gets a little aggressive in blocking access. If you share devices on your network, you may need to designate it as a trusted zone. I do a lot of work with various VPNs and sometimes I need to set them up as trusted zones so Zonealarm will treat them as LANs. One other note on Ravencajun's advice that if you don't know for sure, don't allow the access, you may want to leave the "remember this setting" unchecked when you disallow access the first few times, just in case it's something that does need access and you just don't recognize it. There's a way to change these settings after the fact, but IMO it's easier to do them using the popup boxes.
...See More
New computer was fine but now cannot connect to internet..
Q
Comments (21)
I don't see an issue with AVG on 7. I do see an issue with McAfee see link. If you like AVG and are use to it then for sure consider it. Download it to the desktop and install it. If you restored to factory settings like you said McAfee should not be active, a perfect time to uninstall it. It should uninstall using programs and features, we don't even need to worry about that yet because no McAfee files are running yet. Note The McAfee removal tool is not removing some new versions of McAfee. "Enterprise Software Detected" please contact McAfee. Lets avoid that or it's off to Revo un installer. When you get home connect Ethernet cable to the laptop. Then try going to www.google.com. Only go there just see if Google opens. Let us know if you get this far and we can give you a direct link for AVG so you may install that. Then while McAfee is not active we can uninstall it as I mentioned. If you want I can look at a hijack log for you after.
...See More
Anti Virus etc.
Q
Comments (1)
Sounds like Microsoft needs to get some PR out there talking about Security Essentials. Nothing wrong with it. Probably that girl that opened her mouth and said go to other A-V products rather than their own - is no longer allowed to talk to anyone outside of microsofts offices. People read part of the story bashing it but not the whole story.
...See More
Here are Lots of Halloween Snags
Q
Comments (2)
Thank you!!!! Never knew what to do with these, just figured it out... LOL June
...See More
Elmer J Fudd
10 years ago
The few calls I've gotten like this were from India.

Depending on your time zone, 8 am is afternoon time over there and the caller may have been just starting work. As with legit call centers, the work hours for those interfacing with North America run though the night.
jean_mi_z5
10 years ago
I received one of those calls. While he as going through his lingo, I kept telling him that I knew it was a scam. Finally he laughed and admitted it... :)
fruitjarfla
10 years ago
I have an XP and while using a trial version of Kaspersky plus MSE - I continued to get adware/spyware. Neither protected against that kind of intrusion.
grandms
10 years ago
And they are not designed to protect from that sort of stuff. In fact, there is nothing that I can think of that is going to protect you from scam phone calls. Just use your good sense and hang up.
aputernut
10 years ago
Only scammers ring your phone.. just hang up!
gwarstong
10 years ago
I've gotten several of these. Pretty amazing. Even when I tell them I don't have any Microsoft products and what they've represented is quite impossible, they persist. When I call them liars and scammers and criminals, and ask them how to say @#$!% in Hindi, they just keep on going. Thoroughly entertaining.
acraftylady
10 years ago
My 85yr old Mom received that call and she has never owned a computer so hung up. I received it twice and messed with their head to have some fun and then they hung up on me. Mary!
grandms
10 years ago
I finally got my call today! I was feeling left out. Man with thick accent said he had information about my computer. I could hear kids in the background. I was in the middle of starting dinner or I think I would have "played along" for a few minutes before hanging up. Instead, I just hung up, which is the best thing anyway.
kristyhughes21
10 years ago
its just a scam.. just to be sure use malwarebytes antimalware

Virus, Malware?

Comments (11)

zep516

owbist

Related Discussions

Elmer J Fudd

jean_mi_z5

fruitjarfla

grandms

aputernut

gwarstong

acraftylady

grandms

kristyhughes21

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US