brc Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I heard from my brother in Florida, that his computer was hacked, and they actually sent him an e-mail demanding $500.00 to release all of his computer information back to him. He is completely locked out of his computer now, 8 years of information, pictures lost. My brother is a pastor at his church, and his computer is connected to other members of the church, so all five computers were hacked. They use an IT firm that told him that the e-mail he received demanding $500.00 is untraceable, but they know it came from China. The IT firm also told him that the US justice system is now involved, but not to expect any results soon. He did say that all he did was when his computer notified him of "new updates" <he uses Windows 7> the so called updates were actually the hackers getting into his computer. I guess you never know when or how they are going to hack into you personal information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 http://www.wpbf.com/news/south-florida/treasure-coast-news/computer-scam-takes-users-photo-holds-computer-hostage/21026058 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Yeah its nasty whats going on at the moment... A few weeks back I got a call on my house phone from someone claiming to be from my service provider (the words he used) and that I had a virus on my computer and they needed to fix it... Of course being a computer person I knew what was going on immediately.. So I said which service provider are you from and he said "BT and Sky" (which are two of the largest in the UK ad would never be working together) so I said, they are working together then and you are monitoring my PC without my permission, that's nonsense... He then ignored what I had said and tried to tell me again that I had a virus at which point I just said I don't think so... then he just put the phone down.. A week or so later I had heard that my sister had fallen for the same scam and when she couldn't get access to her computer realised what had happened and just had to get a new hard drive put in.. Nothing anyone could do.. So she lost everything.. It sucks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Yeah, Crypto Locker and variations of it are going around in this part of the world too. #@$%@#$%#$ OTOH, it's a good reason to do backups. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brc Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Searcy, That sounds just like what happened to my brother, only difference is they demanded $500.00 Rotten S.O.B.s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Yeah its nasty whats going on at the moment... A few weeks back I got a call on my house phone from someone claiming to be from my service provider (the words he used) and that I had a virus on my computer and they needed to fix it... Of course being a computer person I knew what was going on immediately.. So I said which service provider are you from and he said "BT and Sky" (which are two of the largest in the UK ad would never be working together) so I said, they are working together then and you are monitoring my PC without my permission, that's nonsense... He then ignored what I had said and tried to tell me again that I had a virus at which point I just said I don't think so... then he just put the phone down.. A week or so later I had heard that my sister had fallen for the same scam and when she couldn't get access to her computer realised what had happened and just had to get a new hard drive put in.. Nothing anyone could do.. So she lost everything.. It sucks!! Those bas tards were harassing me for a while. At least one call per week. I made a game of it, trying to see how long I could keep the phone call going before they hung up on me. I knew I hit paydirt when the caller called me a MF just before he hung up. Eventually they got the message and the calls stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Those bas tards were harassing me for a while. At least one call per week. I made a game of it, trying to see how long I could keep the phone call going before they hung up on me. I knew I hit paydirt when the caller called me a MF just before he hung up. Eventually they got the message and the calls stopped. Has happened as far as even here in Aus. I strung them out a bit to see if I could get a bit of an identifier out of them but they were too smart for that unfortunately. Simply hung up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Thank goodness they haven't compromised the government yet... oh wait, right here in my own county: DCSO pays ransom I almost always pull my cable when I'm not online and even that is no guarantee. I upgraded to 8.1 a while back and it seemed like almost immediately I was getting web pages that redirected to a site which looked very suspicious. I reset my update permissions to notify me before downloading. If I get notifications I go to Microsoft to double check. Σß Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdecantoo Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Last Monday My employer informed us that there was a breach in their system. They too suspect China. They now have the personnel files for over 800,000 employees. Names, addresses, phone numbers, SSN's, including our children's. They also have info on approx. 3 million customers. Here's the kicker, They new about this back in September!! My employees have credit cards and two of them were affected by the recent Home Depot breach. It's only going to get worse. In 1989, before ID theft was a big thing, my daughters info was stolen, We started getting collection notices from bills due in Chicago. I lived in Ohio and my daughter was only 14. She eventually had to have her SSN changed. To this day she still gets bills and calls for payment. Back then the response from the various agencies I had to deal with was "Sorry about your bad luck". Hackers, if you are reading this, After the ink dries on your new credit cards please use one to purchase a new Les Paul custom for me. Since you have my number give me a call and I will fill you in on the specs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Yeah its nasty whats going on at the moment... A few weeks back I got a call on my house phone from someone claiming to be from my service provider (the words he used) and that I had a virus on my computer and they needed to fix it... Of course being a computer person I knew what was going on immediately.. So I said which service provider are you from and he said "BT and Sky" (which are two of the largest in the UK ad would never be working together) so I said, they are working together then and you are monitoring my PC without my permission, that's nonsense... He then ignored what I had said and tried to tell me again that I had a virus at which point I just said I don't think so... then he just put the phone down.. A week or so later I had heard that my sister had fallen for the same scam and when she couldn't get access to her computer realised what had happened and just had to get a new hard drive put in.. Nothing anyone could do.. So she lost everything.. It sucks!! I've had a few of those calls, they offer to help me with a problem they've recognised with my Windows. You can actually have a lot of fun with them, acting like a very old person, explaining that you've had new windows fitted throughout the house, which prompts them to start explaining about Windows on your computer. You can drag their time out for quite a while, eventually they'll put the phone down on you, but you'll have had a good laugh at their expense. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 (lol) Nice one Ian. I'll try that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Last Monday My employer informed us that there was a breach in their system. They too suspect China. The call I got... The guy had an Indian accent... Said his name was Bob or something (yeah, right!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matonanjin Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 The call I got... The guy had an Indian accent... Said his name was Bob or something (yeah, right!!) I just had exactly the same thing happen. Actually, my wife answered the phone and yelled at me, "Some guy is on the phone saying that he wants to fix your Windows problem" Afterwards, she said it was some guy with an Indian accent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I've had a few of those calls, they offer to help me with a problem they've recognised with my Windows. You can actually have a lot of fun with them, acting like a very old person, explaining that you've had new windows fitted throughout the house, which prompts them to start explaining about Windows on your computer. You can drag their time out for quite a while, eventually they'll put the phone down on you, but you'll have had a good laugh at their expense. Ian That's great. a couple of times with telemarketers I've used a televangelist voice and asked them if they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives ... it catches them off guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matonanjin Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 You can actually have a lot of fun with them, acting like a very old person, explaining that you've had new windows fitted throughout the house, ..................... I am a very old person and we just got new windows throughout our house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 There is some video on YouTube where a telephone scammer gets his ultimate reward by being answered by a "Police Officer" who tells the scammer he is telephoning a house where there has been a murder and is now a crime scene. The "Police Officer" then begins to interrogate the scammer with hilarious results. I still think it was scripted out but whether or no it is very funny. Can't recall the link though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desmosedici Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Hahaha, yeah Pin, I remember that..... They said the call had been traced and they were on their way or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 It happened to a friend of mine here in Spain. They demanded 250 euros. She payed it cause she had no choice was her work computer full of her clients files…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 That was fun, I've just had a call from "The Hearing Clinic" (sounded a bit like an Indian call centre to me). Anyway, the Gentleman is going to call me back in 5 minutes to see if he can get a better line! I'm looking forward to this Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I think the idea we are "safe" from online theft is kinda insane. Many companies push to have our accounts online, and it becomes more and more common. I know it's a little easier, and maybe a little cheaper, but somehow it never has made me comfortable. What doesn't make sense is how we as a society would even pretend that there won't be a LOT of theft involved. There is no way I believe that there would NOT be those that make the efforts and are successful at hacking in. The other consideration: China and other parts of the world are out of reach to the American arm of the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 That was fun, I've just had a call from "The Hearing Clinic" (sounded a bit like an Indian call centre to me). Anyway, the Gentleman is going to call me back in 5 minutes to see if he can get a better line! I'm looking forward to this Ian Ah well, he didn't ring back, or at least I didn't hear the phone ring! Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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