Kind of embarrassed to admit this, but I fell for a scam today ... hook, line and sinker ;^.
I was checking out a website when suddenly a window opens up warning me that I'd been hit with multiple viruses, followed by a number of other website windows opening showing graphic images of gay and hardcore S&M porn.
While there's no point in showing you the porn (!) perhaps the only thing I had the presence of mind to do was take grab shots of all the windows related to MAC Defender/Protector, the first of which I'll post here for you to see.
For reasons that remain completely beyond me (though I'm sure i could think of a number of excuses come tomorrow!), I proceeded to do everything they asked: install the antivirus programme, password OK it, run it, register, then, when they asked for credit card detail for payment, followed through on that too and, if that wasn't bad enough, when asked for further details (home address, ID number, even the frickin' limit on my card - Duh!!!), I supplied them with that too ;^.
Only thing was, when I hit the "Continue" icon, absolutely nothing happened.
Eventually becoming suspicious (thick as I sometimes am, I do catch on eventually!) we called our credit card company to explain what I'd done and, thankfully, they said no activity was showing on our account and that they'd keep an extra vigilant eye on it for the next few days.
I had to go to the iStore in town to have the guys there remove the malware (which took them a while to figure out), and only then did it occur to me to do a Google search to see if this had happened to anyone else ...... which of course it had, seeing as this scam has been apparently running since May 2nd.
My question is, do I have anything to be concerned with now that I gave so much personal info to these scammers?
As mentioned above, something in the transaction stage seemed to have frozen, and the credit card company says nothing's been drawn, so I'm not sure they even got all that info, but I'm still somewhat concerned by this.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas (preferably based on experience) I'd greatly appreciate some input, thanks in advance.
I was recently hit by something similar. Slipped right past my virus protector. Thankfully, I didn't fall for it, but have had an exceedingly tough time getting my computer to run right since then. Took it into the shop to have the virus removed, but have had to take it back 3 more times because of related problems. Finally, they had to wipe everything off and start afresh. Lots of headaches. They told me this is a very common thing, and can definitely be a threat if they get your personal data so I would certainly be worried and extra cautious about your credit card and personal data. Sorry you had the problem.
I would recommend canceling the card and getting a new one. I'm surprised your CC company didn't do that automatically. The CC fraud folks have become more sophisticated and may not hit your account immediately but wait for a while and then submit smaller transactions over a longer time period. Since you gave them so much info you might want to consider identity theft protection now which will ask you to verify any new credit requests in your name.
I'm with Graham - - Cancel the Credit Card and have them issue you a new number - right now---- I was contacted by my CC company a couple of weeks ago to verify a charge from Bejing, China made that morning. I told them it was not a proper charge and they immediately cancelled the card and issued a new one. This has happened to me three times and each time the CC company caught the false charge and contacted me to verify it. It's a pain in the butt to change your CC number in all the locations used for monthly billings etc - but it is cheaper than massive false charges to your account.
You can't be sure they don't have your info and you don't know when they are going to use it. I would cancel the credit card asap to avoid potential future headaches.
This is an example of "scareware" that only works if you do what they ask you to do. There's a good discussion of what it is, how it works, and how to delete it in this recent technical bulletin from smalldog.com (a Mac dealer in New England).
You really need to cancel the credit card and have them issue you a new one. They can wait months to act, and even if you get all charges blocked it is an incredible hassle.
Also immediately order a credit report. You have given them everything they need to open new accounts in your name. Order a second credit report in 6-9 months.
In the meantime, the scams don't bode well for anyone hoping to promote their business through the web, do they? Their messages are getting lost in spam filters and all the other devices trying to protect us from scams. If vendors really want to reach customers, the web is going to have to find better ways to shelter users from the scams using the same pathways.
I'm to the point I won't respond to any pop-up, and email spam only gets one trip through my spam filters. Once I tag their server with my ISP, nothing from that server ever hits my email again. I make no bones about it with vendors that want to send me exciting new information and newsletters about their products. They're supporting the spam filter industry while their message is lost among all the scams I'm avoiding.
Rant aside, I agree that really aggressive measures are in order for you including the credit reports, canceling cards and starting new ones on a broad front.
I had a similar message pop up on my laptop a couple of months ago. I even clicked on the button to download the "removal tool" but as soon as it started to download I realized my mistake and switched off the wifi so I could be sure it did not complete.
I do agree that with as much info as you gave, I would cancel that card and get a new one. And keep an eye on your credit reports.
Many thanks Bill, Graham, Merle, Daniel, Richard, Jim, Hank, and Bruce for taking the time to share your opinions and offer advice.
The card has now been canceled and we've instructed the credit card company to contact us by phone first for confirmation before making any payments from now on, which they seem happy enough to do.
Richard: Thanks for that link. Going by the author's advice, I downloaded the Sophos software he recommended, which should hopefully give me an additional head-up should anything like this happen again.
It's good that you cancelled your cards. Jim's advice to obtain cretit reports at intervals is an excellent idea.
You mentioned they got your ID Number. If this is a government issued number, I suggest that you call the appropriate gov't office and report that your ID Number may be compromised.
I hope this all comes out well for you.
--P
Added: There is a similar scam that affects Windows machines. If any web site pops up in Windows that says you've got a virus, hard disk error, or some such, don't click anywhere on the box, and don't attempt to close it with the regular Windows X. Instead, hit Control-Alt-Delete and start Task Manager. In the Applications tab, select your browser and end the program. If Windows complains, just click 'End Now'. The offending page will be gone.
If you're on a MAC, an equivalent procedure should also be tried.
Just to be sure nothing got installed on your machine, run an up to date program such MalWare Bytes and/or Spybot.
I did not mention that mine was PC and not Mac and the MS Removal Tool Ron mentioned I think was the one. Like I said I got lucky I got it stopped before it downloaded.
Just in case any of you MAC users run up against this malware, here is a site that has links to help you remove these pieces of cr*p. Scroll down the page...
This is a reputable site that was recommended to me by the techs at my ISP when I had the Windows version of this Malware. Additionally, there is alot of really good info to be found there.
Well, this is a late post...but I will add a bit. I got hit by this virus on my mac. I went all the way up to registering and paying (which I did NOT do) before I googled it and backed out. Still had the full fledged porno virus. Went online and bought a "good" anti-virus software from the Apple store. It clobbered the virus, but I had to do some searching to find the Quarintined file and delete it.
And here is what is so great about Apple and Macs!!!!! Apple came out with an update to the OS that among other things INCLUDED searching for this particular virus and removing it! All for Free!!! Yea, Macs!!!
Discussion
17 repliesI was checking out a website when suddenly a window opens up warning me that I'd been hit with multiple viruses, followed by a number of other website windows opening showing graphic images of gay and hardcore S&M porn.
While there's no point in showing you the porn (!) perhaps the only thing I had the presence of mind to do was take grab shots of all the windows related to MAC Defender/Protector, the first of which I'll post here for you to see.
For reasons that remain completely beyond me (though I'm sure i could think of a number of excuses come tomorrow!), I proceeded to do everything they asked: install the antivirus programme, password OK it, run it, register, then, when they asked for credit card detail for payment, followed through on that too and, if that wasn't bad enough, when asked for further details (home address, ID number, even the frickin' limit on my card - Duh!!!), I supplied them with that too ;^.
Only thing was, when I hit the "Continue" icon, absolutely nothing happened.
Eventually becoming suspicious (thick as I sometimes am, I do catch on eventually!) we called our credit card company to explain what I'd done and, thankfully, they said no activity was showing on our account and that they'd keep an extra vigilant eye on it for the next few days.
I had to go to the iStore in town to have the guys there remove the malware (which took them a while to figure out), and only then did it occur to me to do a Google search to see if this had happened to anyone else ...... which of course it had, seeing as this scam has been apparently running since May 2nd.
My question is, do I have anything to be concerned with now that I gave so much personal info to these scammers?
As mentioned above, something in the transaction stage seemed to have frozen, and the credit card company says nothing's been drawn, so I'm not sure they even got all that info, but I'm still somewhat concerned by this.
If anyone has any thoughts or ideas (preferably based on experience) I'd greatly appreciate some input, thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Ashley
Good luck.
Also immediately order a credit report. You have given them everything they need to open new accounts in your name. Order a second credit report in 6-9 months.
I'm to the point I won't respond to any pop-up, and email spam only gets one trip through my spam filters. Once I tag their server with my ISP, nothing from that server ever hits my email again. I make no bones about it with vendors that want to send me exciting new information and newsletters about their products. They're supporting the spam filter industry while their message is lost among all the scams I'm avoiding.
Rant aside, I agree that really aggressive measures are in order for you including the credit reports, canceling cards and starting new ones on a broad front.
I do agree that with as much info as you gave, I would cancel that card and get a new one. And keep an eye on your credit reports.
Bruce
The card has now been canceled and we've instructed the credit card company to contact us by phone first for confirmation before making any payments from now on, which they seem happy enough to do.
Richard: Thanks for that link. Going by the author's advice, I downloaded the Sophos software he recommended, which should hopefully give me an additional head-up should anything like this happen again.
It's good that you cancelled your cards. Jim's advice to obtain cretit reports at intervals is an excellent idea.
You mentioned they got your ID Number. If this is a government issued number, I suggest that you call the appropriate gov't office and report that your ID Number may be compromised.
I hope this all comes out well for you.
--P
Added: There is a similar scam that affects Windows machines. If any web site pops up in Windows that says you've got a virus, hard disk error, or some such, don't click anywhere on the box, and don't attempt to close it with the regular Windows X. Instead, hit Control-Alt-Delete and start Task Manager. In the Applications tab, select your browser and end the program. If Windows complains, just click 'End Now'. The offending page will be gone.
If you're on a MAC, an equivalent procedure should also be tried.
Just to be sure nothing got installed on your machine, run an up to date program such MalWare Bytes and/or Spybot.
-p
Bruce
Bleeping Computer.com
This is a reputable site that was recommended to me by the techs at my ISP when I had the Windows version of this Malware. Additionally, there is alot of really good info to be found there.
--P
And here is what is so great about Apple and Macs!!!!! Apple came out with an update to the OS that among other things INCLUDED searching for this particular virus and removing it! All for Free!!! Yea, Macs!!!
Thanks for the heads up Troup!