Back online.

[Marty Hill]

My computer was hacked.  Daughter just got back from a 2 week trip and cleaned up the mess so I'm back.  when your as dumb as me it is really great to have smart kids.

[RandyShields]

Not a question of smart or dumb.  Just a generational/age thing Marty. 

[Kathryn Hill]

@Marty Hill Dad - you're not dumb. You just got conned by a pretty well set-up scam. It happens to the best of us.

 

All: Marty fell for a pop-up window scam - the pop-up window said he had been hacked and to call Apple at XXX-XXX-XXXX. When he called, it wasn't Apple but a scam company that convinced him he'd been hacked and he needed to give them remote access to his computer so they could "clean" it and install software to prevent future hacking.

 

 

They charged him $1000 for this "service" and then subscribed him to an annual "monitoring service" for another $600. I was out of town, but I immediately changed all his passwords and notified his bank, and told him not to use the computer until I was able to get home and wipe it clean. I got the $1600 charges disputed and refunded to him. When I got home, I scanned his Mac and found a lot of nasty stuff; malware, spyware, keyloggers ... I wiped the whole thing clean, re-installed macOS, updated his new passwords, and installed a copy of Clean My Mac to monitor for any new spyware.

 

Unfortunately, the bastards seem to have sold both his email AND phone number to other scammers. In the past week he's gotten a heavy increase in email spam and has started getting text message spam - he's had six this week already. The most recent text message spam was this afternoon from a company spoofing the caller ID so it said the caller was "US Social Security Office" with a message saying "Your social security number has been suspended due to fraudulent activity. Call our office immediately."

 

A common scam, unfortunately:

• https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/09/your-social-security-number-isnt-suspended-ever
• https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2018/social-security-scam-warning.html

[TEWKS]

Nice save Kathryn!

[Marty Hill]

All dummies like me should have a really smart daughter like Kathryn.  Hope I remember how to start the bike when I head for coffee in the morning.

 

[Whip]

Kathryn is my hero.

[tallman]

They tried that with me.

 

I told them if they really had control, they'd know I didn't have any money to pay them...