Issue 6.17
It seems that I am spending more time and energy on helping people avoid scams and helping them recover from the damage done when they make the mistake of trying to work with those that are trying to hurt them.
Here are the signs of scamware. It will pop up on your screen and make it nearly impossible to do anything else. It will either be in a box near the top of your screen or cover the whole screen. There may be a voice or a beep or siren that is telling you something is wrong. It usually happens right after opening an email or clicking on a link or clicking a picture that is supposed to take you to an interesting site such as “10 stars you didn’t know were married” or “Stars that actually ‘Do it” on screen” or “15 ways you can get promoted at work” or other attractive or weird links.
Because these are pop up advertisements and not specifically viruses, your antivirus program may not catch them. They generally include an invisible option to close the offending box and require a response before you can do anything else, thus effectively making your computer inoperable.
If you call the number in the scam (and especially if you allow them into your computer or give them your credit card info) you are inviting them to hurt you badly, either financially or by really messing up your computer. DO NOT call them! Just turn off your computer completely. I encourage people to unplug from power for a few minutes and remove the battery if it is a laptop. That way you can be sure it is not just going into sleep mode instead of shutting down.
If you do this and the problem returns when you power the computer up again, you will likely need to call your computer professional to deal with it, but this is usually not required if you have followed the instructions above. If the problem returns, immediately write down exactly what you were doing at the time (opening a specific email, clicking on a picture or link, etc.) That will help your tech know what is causing the problem.
Ways to avoid the problem are varied and I recommend all of the ones here. 1) Use Google Chrome or another browser that has a pop-up blocker built in – don’t disable the pop-up blocker for anything other than websites that you use a password to enter such as banks, etc. 2) Make sure you have a good Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware program and that it is up-to-date and runs regularly. These can block many (but not all) intrusions effectively, but only if you keep them updated and make sure they are running. 3) Don’t click on stuff that is questionable. This is good advice, but even I don’t always follow it – just be careful. 4) When you point at a link or linked picture, your browser should show what the address you are linking to is even before you click it. It will appear in a box at the top or bottom of your browser. If you browser doesn’t do this, use a different one. Any link that doesn’t show the green “secure” indication and/or a green “https//” at the beginning of the link may be a scam. A “landing” page such as “google.com” or “amazon.com” or “Microsoft.com” is usually safe if you know the company is legit even if they don’t have the https at the beginning, but check the spelling to be sure it is not a look-alike and don’t link from their pages to others unless they are also known or safe.
Finally, as I always say and continue to believe, the most important thing you can do to protect your data, documents, pictures and your computer is to always remember to have a backup of anything important.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 34 years, 27 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently works as a computer consultant. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.