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?
Could be. . . my nephew worked for Apple.
Perhaps user is a tad strong. . . but I did see and play with one before release. . . ;^)
> totally unnecessary. She wasn't infected by anything. Nor do you need to do all that on a Mac. You Windows people don't really know Macs.
Hi Sword, I'm going to take small issue with one thing you said in your reply: "Nor do you need to do all that on a Mac".
There are some download/drive-by Trojans that are effective on Macs, and can leave malware on the machine, such as a keylogger. Granted, they're not actually attacking the OS, they're attacking the user. Granted, the user has to give admin permission to let them install.
And granted, this particular instance of scareware doesn't sound like it has downloaded anything onto the user's machine.
But clearly here we're talking about a fairly naive user. It's entirely possible that they have done something unwise in the past. And if so, then running a reputable Mac-specific malware scanner seems to me to be a reasonable precaution.
So I don't feel it's fair to say that "you don't need to do that on a Mac". I think there are some circumstances where it's warranted.
Please comment -- if I'm mistaken or misinformed I would want to be corrected. Thanks!
That's WAY cool. :)
Actually it was a crappy day. Had military duty... Had to be there at 6am... Of and we moved our clocks forward. So yeah I’m tired and a bit short fused right now.
Not to mention the woman and her two children I’m helping to escape am abusive husband and adds to the stress as I have to deal with that so I couldn’t take a nap today when I got home. Oh and more my dog walking me up.
I would advise to change every single solitary online username and password. I also stopped keeping contact lists for my hotmail when I was using hotmail (live.com)... I would get virused and next thing I knew, the few people on my contact list were getting spammed by my account.
From the description, I don't think there is a likelyhood they could have gotten it on there. . . but you are right, It is possible. However, she would have had to have given the callers an administrator name and password to install anything and even then SHE would have had to have ignored pretty obvious warnings from the OS three times. I suspect all they were after was her credit card information. That is what most of these scams are after. They ask for all the information including the CCV on the back. Name, address, card number, etc. Charge the card, and then give her a pass code to their website lock on the page . . or tell her to click on an un-obtrusive location on the screen. . . she's on which solves the problem. Done. They then charge her card out the Wazoo.
They already have most of what they would be looking for with a key logger. They may have even asked her for her SSN. I wouldn't be surprised.
I am honestly sorry you had to go through all that, and offer my sympathy. I appreciate your helpful answer on the other thread about Win8 and Start8, so maybe the dog waking you up at least had that benefit. :) I'm sure that the woman and her family that you're helping also appreciate your efforts.
I won't trouble you any more tonight, but instead just offer a prayer that God grants you Peace of mind and strength to deal with all the stuff on your plate.
God Bless and see ya on another thread.
-- Dayglored
“You guys on Windows must get very paranoid.”
LOL. It just reminds us of what a big government is like!
Good idea. Actually, I’ve been told it’s a good idea to change user names and passwords periodically. I haven’t changed mine in a while, so thank you for the reminder.
Her concern is that the scammers might have some access to her computer remotely. From what I've read about this scam from others who were duped or almost duped by it, part of the so-called fix involves granting the scammers remote access to your computer. I'm not sure whether she did so. The scammers may also give the impression they already have access to your computer. I don't know what they told my friend.
My friend is normally smart about most things. I believe she panicked at the thought her computer was frozen because she has some work-related documents on it that she was supposed to be working on. So she lost her head and just did what the scammers wanted. I guess sometimes when a person is scared or stressed, they do things they normally wouldn't do. God knows I've done some boneheaded things in my lifetime, so I don't want to judge my friend harshly.
Anyway, I really appreciate your help. God bless you both.
Historically, yes, but the trend has been creeping into non-porn sites as well. A lot "free" services out there now have this sort of stuff built into it - a lot of deceptive advertising trying to get you to download something or scare ads claiming your system is affected.
I see this mostly at file-hosting sites (trying to download mods for my son's Minecraft game is almost a game in itself, jumping through all of the hoops and avoiding the misleading "Download" links that will get you the adware instead of the file you're looking for) and some blogs.
The most annoying is the "pop under" MacKeeper ads, due to not only the deceptive nature of the ad, but the scummy practice of using pop-unders.
One old trick is to put an "on close" event in the window so that closing it simply opens a new copy of it.
Does AdBlock work on Safari? I thought it was just for Firefox/Mozilla. Thanks.
Handy-dandy website to see all official Safari extensions (including AdBlock): https://extensions.apple.com
“I get the same calls from Indian guys saying they are calling from Microsoft Tech Support.”
Yeah, I’ve had them call me a few times. First time I listened to the spiel. Now as soon as I hear the accented English say “Microsoft Tech Support” I hang up.
Thank you!
My girlfriend got a call like that, allegedly from "Microsoft Support". She listened politely at first until they started asking for information and access to her computer, then she said, "No thanks", hung up, and called me. The threat is quite real.
> I guess sometimes when a person is scared or stressed, they do things they normally wouldn't do. God knows I've done some boneheaded things in my lifetime, so I don't want to judge my friend harshly.
Yep, everybody makes mistakes under stress. Everybody. No judgments, we just try to help the person deal with the stress. What goes around, comes around, as they say.
God Bless and have a great day.
The PC Browsers do the same things. Same scam ads. No difference."
It was intended as humor. Probably too subtle. ;-)
(If it connects to the internet in anyway shape or form it can be compromised.)
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