Remote Access Scam

JKyle

Hi,

My mother in law has been scammed by someone phoning up and telling her she has problems with her pc and he's going to help her solve them, she gave them remote access then when he started talking about how he could put on some more software which would stop her getting viruses and if she just completed the online payment form then she'd be fine - at this stage she realised it was a scam and took him off the remote access. He then tried to phone her back three times at which time I was back and I answered the phone.

I have been told that I should contact trading standards which i will do and I'm going to contact the bank aswell, but do you know is their p.c. totally unusable now? and will other computers in the house who link up to the internet via wifi be okay to use?? I have no idea who to call who could help us with this information???

So, warn everyone.

thanks

steve1980

I'm sorry to be blunt but how stupid can some people be? Why on earth would you give someone remote access to your P.C. who just randomly phones up??

With remote access the user (you) needs to authorise all incoming connections, I'd run a virus checker and spyware/malware checker just to be safe but here sholdn't be any problems.

luci

Yes download Malwarebytes, update it and run a scan. Delete anything it finds.

Rabbir1

It depends what software they installed on her computer, and what information she keeps on it. They may have had access to all her folders and installed key loggers etc. As above I'd update and full scan with Malwarebytes and post a hijackthis log on here for someone to check.

spg_SCOTT

I think that there should be a sticky thread about this here, or it should be mentioned in the weekly email...I'm pretty sure that many people who get that don't come to this part of the forum so probably don't know about it...

Richie-from-the-Boro

spg_SCOTT wrote: »

I think that there should be a sticky thread about this here, or it should be mentioned in the weekly email...I'm pretty sure that many people who get that don't come to this part of the forum so probably don't know about it...

Its mentioned several times each and every week right here by unfortunate people like JKyle's mother in law. Its unlikely wherever the info was put the O/P would have seen it as the only other post made was the 5th Jan this year.

Mr.Mulla

These scammers are really terrible to be preying on people who obviously have lesser knowledge of the computer. It is a good thing that you posted it here so other people be warned.

It might also be a good idea to restore the computer to a previous date after running a malware and spyware check.

John_Gray

Mr.Mulla wrote: »

These scammers are really terrible to be preying on people who obviously have lesser knowledge of the computer.

They're not likely to be able to prey on those people with more knowledge, now, are they! By definition scammers are not nice people.

Basil1234

safest and easyiest thing to do
1.full format reinstall windows
2. then change all bank,email accounts passwords immedietly also any online accounts you have online passwords etc etc do this on another computer to be safest.
as long as the havent installed a key logger and she hasnt accessed any of those accounts since the call you may find is a lucky escape.
but the above is what i would do just make sure have backed up any precoius photos etc to cd or dvd first.