Computer Scam

[clark5080]

Just got a call where the caller ID said it was “out of area 91788”. The caller proceeded to tell me that my windows computers were downloading infected files every-time we went online. when I started to question him he terminated the call.

Just totally weird

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[Ken]

Check your firewall exceptions. If you really want to know the ugly details try GMER.

http://www.gmer.net/

It is powerful and not really safe for most users and but it will find some of the real stealthy rootkits and trojans. The problem is figuring out what is safe to delete. Don’t touch this program without a good backup of your files and the OS reinstall disk handy.

—-

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1636

This link is for info on a new bank trojan that downloads a copy of the executable every time it triggers. This is a really ugly one and the only defense I know that works for sure is to boot from a live linux cd and use firefox to do your banking. Financial institutions all over the world are using this method for large international transfers.

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[clark5080]

Thanks Ken I will double check but my network is behind our router firewall and locked down and all updates are done automatically so i seriously doubt there is a problem.

What get’s me is why would someone call me and also know my name and tell me this never heard of that the whole thing just smells of scam and I think he wanted to have me go to a site and install some software or something.

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[clark5080]

Here is an article about what happened to me except when I questioned him right away he hung up and never got around to trying to get me to download the software he wanted me to.

Jim

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/18/phone-scam-india-call-centres

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[dhg]

Here’s how I’ve seent his scam play out: The scammers will find a tech company that has gone out of business but is not well-known. They will then call and claim to be working for that company and tell you that they’ve noticed activity on your broadband that indicates a problem, such as hard drive failure that is imminent or a bad virus. If you don’t sound too dubious they will ask you to open a browser and type in an address that will give them remote control. After that, they have you and it’s going to cost you a lot of money.

So, beware of cold calls from people who pretend interest in your broadband downloads.

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[Ken]

Yep that sounds like the social engineering classic.

Good thing you sent that link.

If I had received a call from someone identifying themselves as “Microsoft” I would probably have hurt myself laughing. Even when I spent tens of thousands per year on software, I could never get anyone at MS to call me back.

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[MarkAngello]

That’s an expensive scam to operate. I’ve heard of cheaper scams offering online free anti-virus software which you can have by clicking. Never accept it.

PS- MicroSoft never sends you emails telling you to click something to test your PC for an update. If you get something claiming to be from Uncle Bill, deep six it.

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[redblack]

ken: what do you know about gibson research? i visit this site occasionally, as it checks for open ports and other vulnerabilities:

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

any input as to its efficacy?

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[ejg8800]

I rec’d. the same call on 6/2/11. Caller said MS had found a problem with my software. I am a very suspicious and cynical guy, so I stopped him mid sentence and said this sounds like bullshit. The caller, who had what I thought was an Eastern European accent stopped talking. I said what do you want? He started talking about software and I interrupted and said you are a con man. He hung up. I had an identical call about a month ago which went the same way. Sounded like the same guy. After reading these other posts, I am not as concerned about the matter, except I would like to know how he got my tel. #

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[DP]

[The scammers] will then call and claim to be working for [a tech] company and tell you that they’ve noticed activity on your broadband that indicates a problem, such as hard drive failure that is imminent or a bad virus.

 

Me: “Oh, dear. That sounds terrible. Will money fix it, do you think?”

 

If you don’t sound too dubious they will ask you to open a browser and type in an address that will give them remote control.

 

Me: “I’m SO glad you called! Can you explain to me how to use this mouse thingie? Do you know Myrtle Smith? She’s my neighbor. She knows all about computers. What’s the weather like out where you’re at?

“What? My credit card number? OK. Hang on just a minute. La la la la la la . . . .

“Here it is. Say! I can’t read the whole number. Is that a 4 or a 6 on the end? I’m gonna guess it’s a 6. I think it’s expired anyway. You sound like a real nice young man. Do you go to school? Where at? Oh, that must be nice . . . “

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[DP]

http://www.wimp.com/interruptsinterview/

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[Ken]

Missed the question earlier. Steve Gibson is one of the few assembly programmers on the planet. He could still write programs that would fit on floppies if computers still came with floppies :)

I have some very old and tiny versions of spinrite for dos 3.3 but I don’t have any computers it will run safely on since it accesses hardware directly for mfm and rll drives.

His resume from the old site was amazing. I don’t know if it is still on the current one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gibson_%28computer_programmer%29

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[Author]

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