Hi,just had a strange episode while looking on AA roadmap UK online for a future trip to UK.My computer screen was completely taken over by messages from Microsoft security and an annoying voice prompting me to call this 09 number within 5 minutes or my computer would cease to operate,needless to say i didn,t call the number,but it took me a while to get rid of all this from my screen.I take it this was yet another scam,but wondering how it got past my security?Anyone had this happen or have any further info,thanks.
Yes, itâs a scam. You may find these links useful:
NB - the PCRisk website looks legit, but Iâve no previous experience of using it.
Itâs very likely that your computer has been infected with software and that caused those messages to appear.
Iâd strongly advise you to adjust your security settings and install some anti malware and anti virus software. These can also be run to check for and remove any undesirable software.
How to do all of this, and the most appropriate protection software will very depending on what operating system you use.
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Best to do this with the internet disconnected.
BTW I highly recommend Malwarebytes.
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I second that. I run it on all my machines and even though I have firewalls etc set up it still picks up the odd threat - and deals with it before it causes any problems.
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That sounds distinctly like a MITM (man in the middle) attack where someone has either:
- managed to hijack your internet connection
- managed to corrupt your browser / operating system to allow fake security messages to be displayed / read out
- managed to corrupt the web site serving the pages you were reading (drive-by attack) which exploits a vulnerability in the browser you were using
None of these are good situations to be in. Like others have advised, if possible try and get hold of an anti-malware program via a different computing device that you can then install and run on your computer without being connected to the internet.
Definitely a scam, definitely worth getting a recognised anti-virus and scanning your PC.
Avast seems to get good reviews at the moment.
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Agreed. Iâd be scanning my machine if I were you. Also consider backing up any documents you canât afford to lose to a USB stick or in the cloud.
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And BTW just to underline Nigelâs tip re Malwarebytes, this is the security service / app recommended by Natwest to all users. Weâve been using it for several months now and have seen a marked reduction in the number of threats / nuisances / scams.
Ken
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Wow the crap you have to put up with! So scary! Over 20 years using Linux and never a problem even without virus blockers. Amazing that most people donât.
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I was perusing assorted daily newsletters in the inbox this morning when something went very wrong. Suddenly I lost control of the mouse, with a voice, coming from god knows where, saying something about my computer now being infected with a virus, and with flashing swirling images all over the place.
My immediate reaction was to reach for the on-off button on my computer and cut off power & access to the internet. When I started up the computer again everything was back to normal. I have Norton 360 and Malwarebytes virus control which I then used to scan, and found zero virus detections.
Donât know what the hell that was â a bit frightening!
Iâve seen computer technicians turn off computers like I did, bypassing the usual method of shutdown, and it appears to be an ok thing to do, but for me only in emergencies!
Itâs fine for emergency use - the thing not to do is immediately power up before any disks have stopped spinning, because it can damage the drive. You will also lose any unsaved work.
Iâd check for and remove unwanted/unexpected extensions in any web browsers you use, but particularly chrome. A couple of people where I work had problems with chrome extensions bringing popups that were unhelpful (one kept showing porn, which wasnât ideal in a work environment).
If you have a home network then Iâd disconnect any drives before restarting, although for a real infection it might be too late.
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Itâs OK most of the time with modern filesystems - you might lose a little bit of live data and any unsaved work but the filesystem itself is designed to withstand the failure (or, in this case, abrupt withdrawal of power).
However, the old âFATâ filesystem could become badly corrupted in power was cut in the middle of disk operations.
Thanks - I checked and found Chrome extension McAfeeÂź WebAdvisor which I hadnât installed. Now deleted.
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When I see iffy emails in my inbox, I know theyâre iffy, but sometimes check them out by copying the first few written lines from such emails, and pasting them into a browser, adding the word âarnaqueâ.
Itâs quite surprising to see an exact match for the written content in these scam emails, on the arnaque warning websites.
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I got caught out by a scam, almost, a few years ago. This is worth reading by any other older folk like me on SF.
Received a phone call, from Microsoft, to tell me that my computer had âflagged upâ on their system as being unsafe and insecure, and was serious. The caller then paused and said he was waiting for a call from a colleague and started chatting, very friendly, very interested in me â he asked my age â I was in my late 60s then. I know now that these scammers ask your age because they know that the âelderlyâ are so much easier to target, convince and rob.
I listened, as the caller sounded so very plausible, and he gave me instructions, which I forget exactly now, to enable him to connect to my computer and âput things rightâ.
He transferred me first to a member of staff in âMicrosoft Adminâ who started to tell me how I can pay for âputting things rightâ. I became suspicious and said Iâd like to reconsider, and asked her name and phone number so that I could ring her back. She sounded a bit panicky and thatâs when I put down the phone and switched off my computer.
A few months later I received a phone call and recognised the voice of the Microsoft scammer whoâd rang before. I told him I knew who he was, and said a few rude things to him, and his response was a loud and angry âMr Fr!
A few weeks after that I had a phone call from a woman, speaking very good French, purporting to be a computer technician who could sort out my computer problems by enabling her to connect to my computer â no need for a home visit. But I recognised her voice as being the woman I had spoken to in âMicrosoft Adminâ months earlier, and so asked for her name and phone number, and she refused.
They donât like giving up! I learned a valuable lesson.
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I worked with.someone whose strategy was to play the innocent bumbling unknowing idiot when these people called. He would string it out as long as possible, being totally willing to follow their instructions just uncertain and messing things up and having to start again. (Our work involved teaching people to use computer systems.)
Eventually they would give up after their initial optimism at having âfound a live oneâ. One or two even recognised theyâd been played. His record was 1 and a half hours wasting their time.
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Everyone - please remember nobody should ever ring you up to repair your broken/infected PC/Laptop/Ipad/phone.
If someone rings, no matter how convincing and/or polite they sound just hang up.
Even if you have had or are having issues with your device just hang up.
They simply want your money.
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A friend, very computer knowledgeable, said the same thing, that he would have strung the scammer out for as long as possible, the call becoming more and more expensive - assuming these people pay their phone bills.
Being more knowledgeable about these things now, I like to play occasionally with scam emails by giving all the information requested in the name of mickey.mouse@disney.com and with nonsense credit card numbers & other nonsense info.
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It has happened to me, and thatâs exactly what I did, pretending I was very very stupid and doing stuff to my computer when in fact I was making lunch or baking goĂ»ter, something that meant I needed to hang around in my kitchen anyway. Actually I think it happened another time as well and I just said no you arenât and hung up after they said their spiel.