interesting day yesterday, computer wise that is

[cuznjohn]

going to try and make this short. last year i had a problem and i called dell service. when the tech got into my computer he found problems and it cost me a couple of hundred to fix it. since than all has been good. two days ago i get a call and the tech tell me that they were getting messages from my computer saying i am being tracked from several IP addresses. so after putting them off for a couple of days i let them check the computer yesterday. after some quick checking, he shows me how bad my computer was infected and that he could fix it for 399.00. when i asked what happened to my service agreement that i paid for he said it was expired. i told him that i had a 3 year contract with dell and that is when i found out that they were not dell but people that fix dell computers.

at that point i got mad and said i would rather use dell techs and not him. WELL!!! he signed out of my computer and he restarted it and hung up. at that point i was asked for a password to sign into the computer and i didn't have one. that was the beginning of my night mare.

lucky for me i know a few things about computers and i had to bring my computer back to a NEW OUT OF THE BOX INSTALL. also i had saved all of my documents a couple of months ago on a zip drive, so i was able to recover most of what i had. i did lose a few pictures and a few files, but i am back up and running again. so i spent the day downloading all the programs i use such as a weather program, AOL, Google earth, Facebook, spyderlovers etc.

moral of the story be careful who you deal with, if i could find the person on the other end of the phone i would brake his :cus: fingers.

[MisterP]

Another lesson you referred to is backing things up. I use Safe Copy Backup, 200 GB account for all my computers, automatically crawls in the background and keeps all file changes for documents or folders I choose. I like it better than some cloud services that require a separate license for each computer you backup. Safe Copy also doesn't care if the computer is a PC or Mac, and I have both. And no, I don't work for the company, I just like their product.

Regardless of how you do it, routine backups in today's world is a critical task.

[Jim's_Spyder]

Was it a real "Tech" department or a scammer? Over the last couple of weeks I have had a couple of calls from a guy with a really thick accent telling me I had issues with my computer. He kept trying to get me to log on to my computer and let his log into and "Show me with my own eyes" that computer was filled with viruses and problems. He was trying to get me to log onto a web site and some other crap.
I would almost bet it was a scammer that got your name from someone or just a random call.
What they did was activate a Windows program that requires a password. Kind of works like the old pop ups that said you had a virus and you needed to run their software to fix and when you ran it it uploaded a virus. Here is a link to what I bet happened to you. A word to the wise unless you call they repairman, how do they know what you have is broke?
http://triplescomputers.com/blog/casestudies/solution-this-is-microsoft-support-telephone-scam-computer-ransom-lockout/

[Magdave]

Had similar issue with REAL Microsoft techs. My updates quit and TurboTax would not load because of .net framework not updating. Called Microsoft paid the service and spent 2 days watching the techs in India mess up my computer. Good thing I had a recent system back up on a WD Smartdrive. I ended up doing a full re install got my money refunded and 173 updates later it has never run better. I got all my files back and saved all my programs that I paid for in a folder on the backup. before all this started.The other upside is it is much more organized now than the XP to Win7 upgrade I did. Been chasing a ghost the last couple of days on my wifi that ended up being my wifi printer. It did not install correctly after the re install and was causing a wireless fault on my wifi network. It was driving me crazy I shut down every computer and every wifi device over 2 days until I thought about the printer. Tried a test page...no go. shut off unplug, reset and all is good now. Now for the next challenge a wifi thermostat install. I am getting an ecoBee.:thumbup:

PS
Always back up your "Favorites" file it has all you websites you visit. I use AOL but by backing up my "organize" file I get all my saved emails and registrations back. I use Norton ID safe and back it up too it has all my logins to the websites safe and secure.

[cuznjohn]

he did have a heavy indian accent but i was stupid and let him in the computer. live and learn i guess

[Chupaca]

glad you had recent back up and know a bit about computers. There are many scams out there. The ones that ask if you have problems and click here to check are all over the place. Best thing to do is run your computer by a store for that. Geek squad etc. You have someone/or place you can come back to if things are amiss. If it says they have detected issues they would have to be in your computer to know and would not need to access it...

[NovaSpyder]

Definitely scammers. There was a thread on this started by Roger not too long ago. Fortunately you had skills and backup to restore. My habit now is never to answer the phone if I don't recognize the caller. If it is important they will leave a message.

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?75830-Windows-Operational-Center-Calling

[Bob Denman]

:gaah: :cus:ing scammers! :gaah:
Sorry to hear that you took it in the neck... :banghead:

[wyliec]

cuznjohn,

You'd better keep an eye on your savings and checking account amounts.

[markyodo]

he did have a heavy indian accent but i was stupid and let him in the computer. live and learn i guess
Please be careful and make sure you are checking all your passwords, logon accounts, bank accounts, pin numbers, emails, address books contacts etc for the next several weeks.

Not to scare you, but the fact that this person was already on your computer could mean that they (meaning the bad group he/she is involved with) already has created copies of all the important stuff on your computer and transferred it elsewhere for further bad use.
Encrypted files, and stuff you would think they would never use or find, they can do this very very quickly and relatively easy without you ever knowing it was happening. It doesn't take a mouse or fancy graphical program to do this stuff, you would never see it happening.

[cuznjohn]

cuznjohn,

You'd better keep an eye on your savings and checking account amounts.

thanks i just changed my banking password

[Pennyrick]

There are thousands of crooks who want to have access to your computer so they can nose around and find things like passwords, open links to banks, credit card companies, Pay Pal, etc. If you click on "save this" or "stay connected" so you don't have to bother retyping user names or passwords to enter your accounts you are fresh meat for these folks.

Just Google "Support HP printers" for example. You will get hits for hundreds of sites that are set up to look like the genuine Hewlett Packard web sites but they are not. If you call or log on and ask help for your printer or scanner problem one of the first things they will ask of you is to go to an address that allows them access to your computer. From there on it is 'Katie bar the door'.

While they are in your computer they will be downloading data like crazy that they can go through at their leisure to see what they can use.

There are some legitimate sites for support but my guess is that more than half of the sites that look like "official' Microsoft, Dell, Epson, Toshiba, etc. are phonies.

[MisterP]

thanks i just changed my banking password

You may want to contact your bank(s) and notify them of the problem. They can add fraud alerts for transactions that don't fit your patterns.

[mowin]

Sneaky :cus:. Wife and I got her daughter a laptop as a graduation gift last yr. A week or so ago she gets a call from someone claiming to be from Sony and they detected problems with her laptop. She started to give this person info. My wife caught on and and stopped her before any harm was done. Luckily, she was downstairs in the living room, and not in her room, or things would have been alot different. Still don't know how they got her cell #. She claims she never puts personal info on FB, but im not so sure. She did intend to give this stranger on the phone personal info, and access to her laptop. :banghead:

[gln2]

I just listen to their hype and then tell them I don't own a computer that's when they angrily say something in another language and hang up.

[retread]

I have a lot of fun with these people, the last 30 years of my working time was spent on computer repair. I'll admit I'm not up to date on all the new stuff, but I know the antivirus stuff I'm using works, and I NEVER keep anything on my computer that I can't afford to loose.

john

[vided]

You may want to contact your bank(s) and notify them of the problem. They can add fraud alerts for transactions that don't fit your patterns.


:agree::agree:
change those passwords a few times

[Netminder]

I work in IT and can tell you nobody would know there is a problem with your PC but you. This is a long time scam! Word of wise, if they call you they are scamming you! If a bank, credit card or PayPal or IRS, Canada Revenue agency send you an email requesting personal information, delete it no matter how official the email looks, as these corporations never will request this information by email! If you get an email that says you won something, delete it, you don't win stuff you never entered? The Internet is a bit like the Wild West , criminals mass email these things in hope they can hook even a few! :yikes: If you are vigilant the Internet is great, if you are careless and open everything you are opening yourself up to identy theft etc. One other thing I never do is click on a link in an email if that is the only thing in it as this is a sure fire way of having your address book hacked, even if it is from someone legit as if they do not describe it and give me a heads up about what it is about, I will not take a chance! If this help even a few people, I will be happy. Just like riding, be safe out there!:thumbup:

[ARtraveler]

going to try and make this short. last year i had a problem and i called dell service. when the tech got into my computer he found problems and it cost me a couple of hundred to fix it. since than all has been good. two days ago i get a call and the tech tell me that they were getting messages from my computer saying i am being tracked from several IP addresses. so after putting them off for a couple of days i let them check the computer yesterday. after some quick checking, he shows me how bad my computer was infected and that he could fix it for 399.00. when i asked what happened to my service agreement that i paid for he said it was expired. i told him that i had a 3 year contract with dell and that is when i found out that they were not dell but people that fix dell computers.

at that point i got mad and said i would rather use dell techs and not him. WELL!!! he signed out of my computer and he restarted it and hung up. at that point i was asked for a password to sign into the computer and i didn't have one. that was the beginning of my night mare.

lucky for me i know a few things about computers and i had to bring my computer back to a NEW OUT OF THE BOX INSTALL. also i had saved all of my documents a couple of months ago on a zip drive, so i was able to recover most of what i had. i did lose a few pictures and a few files, but i am back up and running again. so i spent the day downloading all the programs i use such as a weather program, AOL, Google earth, Facebook, spyderlovers etc.

moral of the story be careful who you deal with, if i could find the person on the other end of the phone i would brake his :cus: fingers.

I think you were dealing with a scammer John. Similar was mentioned a couple weeks or so on SL. Computer companies do not call to tell you things like you are being tracked, etc. Allowing the guy access into your computer could result in large identity theft or worse. How could they be tapped into your computer, and be searching your innermost information just to offer you a service? Hope I am very, very wrong here.

Also, the fact he did not have correct information about your service contract with Dell waves a bit of a red flag to me.

[vided]

i got this this morning, i've never ever even been in a WF bank.
100909

[billybovine]

i got this this morning, i've never ever even been in a WF bank.
100909

That's a phishing email. They could be sending out millions of them. So some folks that receive it are actually WF customers. Some of those customers will click on the link. Some of those will fill in their login info and now the scammers have it.

[M109Dreamer]

i got this this morning, i've never ever even been in a WF bank.
100909
I received one similar a while back and Im a WF customer. I called them and forwarded the email to their fraud department.

[billybovine]

I got a phishing email for Paypal this week. They don't have favorites, any financial institution can be a target.

Never click on a link in any email you get regarding your finances. If you think the email could be legitimate. login using a fresh screen in your browser, not the link in the email.

[cognaccruiser]

Or call your financial institution as they will know if something has been sent out. Usually they don't send emails like that anyway so it is an extremely good bet it is a scam. Most banks up here anyway, have a place to forward the phishing email for them to investigate. Never open an attachment. We don't open the emails themselves. If in doubt, delete.

Gary

[billybovine]

I just got a call from the Windows Technical Department. :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:

[Orange Spyder Man]

I had a similar problem about 3 months ago... I called Dell.. they said they would hook me up to a "tech" to solve my problem.. well, I am sure the "tech" was in India by his accent... he quoted me $169.95 for a ONE time fix... but for $250.00 it was an unlimited fix agreement.... I said "NOPE" .. hung up on him pronto... took my computer to a local tech... cost me $70.00 .. my computer has worked 100% since... Dell can kiss my hind side from now on...:mad:

osm