WEB BASED SCAM Ping!
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Posted on 03/08/2015 4:19:26 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
A friend of mine called in a panic. She received a pop up on her IMac saying her computer was compromised ahd that she should call "Apple Tech Support" at 1-800-656-8559. She called the number and was scammed for her credit card number to allegedly fix the problem. She has canceled her card and was told the charge would be removed and a new card issued. It's unclear whether the scammer has harvested any other sensitive information from her computer.
I told her to call the real Apple tech support number, but is there anything else she should do? If her computer is compromised, is there a remedy? An application or program she should run?
Got hit with that stupid thing a week ago. Malwarebytes cleared it out.
I work in the PC tech support business, this is sadly, a very common scam, not unique to any OS or computer manufacturer. Older folk in particular tend to fall for this scam.
No description of hacking here, no allegation of hacking, nothing but old fashioned human engineering.
OVER THE PHONE.
Learn the language why don’t you?
Some people are too stupid to have credit cards
“She needs to do a clean install of OSX or restore from time machine if she has one.”
Extreme over kill. She just needs to learn when she is being scammed, and just say no.
Glad to see you received a few grown-up answers! LOL...
Thank you. I suggested she call the real Apple tech support, but she may do better just bringing the computer to the Apple store.
Thank you. I’ll pass this on to her.
It wasn't hacked. It was an ad. Nothing that couldn't have been closed using Force Quit.
Ping
Tell her to take her computer into an Apple store and have a someone remove the malware and install an aggressive internet security/anti-virus anti-malware program. She is obviously not savvy enough to do it herself
Sorry. I didn’t mean to be impolite. Hacking is a serious problem, and so is person-to-person scamming.
What is happening here is that ordinary person-to-person scammers are using folks’ very real fear of being hacked to scam them. There isn’t any real hacking going on but the victim fears that there might be, and that fear makes them vulnerable to the scammer.
It’s important that people keep their fears in check, first of all. And secondly to learn to recognize scams early in the approach. There are usually tell-tale signs like an appeal to fear, a fishy looking address if it is an approach by e-mail, or a 1-800 number. NEVER call back a number without checking the real official website of whoever it claims to be calling. Check reverse lookups to see who owns the number.
Most of all maintain a healthy skepticism and listen to your self-preservation instincts. If it sets your buzzers abuzzing, stop. I mean STOP. You lose absolutely nothing by exercising real caution.
Use one browser for reading your emails and keep that browser strictly for email use. For browsing the Internet, use a different browser and make that as the default browser.
(I.e. Internet Explorer for email only and Firefox for browsing only)
Also, setup your privacy options in each browser accordingly to your needs (i.e. you might want to clear all history when you close the browser). Adjust privacy for Gmail account, too.
The point is: try to avoid websites to read your browsing history and login/session cookies, or to try to avoid Gmail, Facebook, etc. to capture your browsing sessions/history. So, keep the two things (email and browsing) isolated from each other.
My wife got it while watching Japanese/Korean dramas. I told her I’d check it out - its got a couple of different formats. I called the jerks and kept asking them questions they told me to go to the apple store if I didn’t trust them. They’re on a timeline it seems.
Or, use an extension/add-on for your browser to block this type of activity such as ghostery.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Her Mac hasn't been hacked. It's on a website. It's a pop-up scareware ad. Nothing has actually compromised her Mac.
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