scammers allowed access

photome

My mum just called

she has been taken in by the microsft scam

she opened laptop up, first thing she saw was a whole page pop up telling her to call microsoft straight away (should have called me but hey ho)

she called them and allowed them access to her laptop, they turned on camera and mic so could hear her even when she called me eventually.

they asked for £160 to "fix it" thats when she hung up (after an hour) and called me.

I have told her to turn laptop off for now

BUT I am unsure what to do now that they have had access.

She doesnt do any online banking but does shop online

I have told her to call any banks associated with her cards and either get them changed or at least make them aware.

I have also suggested that she bins the laptop and gets something else possibly a tablet or if i go an run a malware program and an anti virus program will that be enough

MY question is what is the correct course if action so that i can advise her better

bsod

bin laptop? you're overreacting.

how do you think they are going to obtain her card details from a remote control session

check if anything has been installed in control panel, system restore it and scan for malware or do a factory restore

Browntoa

As above

You are overreacting

photome

thats why i was asking?

photome

bsod wrote: »

bin laptop? you're overreacting.

how do you think they are going to obtain her card details from a remote control session

check if anything has been installed in control panel, system restore it and scan for malware or do a factory restore

I have no idea. Is it not possible?

[Deleted User]

photome wrote: »

I have no idea. Is it not possible?

Not unless she put them in a text document on her desktop.

photome

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Not unless she put them in text document on her desktop.

she wont have done that.

looks like its not as bad as i feared then, will take a look at said laptop in next couple of days

bsod

card details aren't stored anywhere unless the user chooses to save them in a file. They could perhaps obtain saved browser passwords (for websites) if she has saved any

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/web_browser_password.html

ask her what they did for an hour, uninstall the remote control software (or use it yourself to have a look) and reboot the router

agrinnall

photome wrote: »

There's always one or even two.

I thought it a sensible question I am not exactly tech savvy and my 80 plus year old mum definitely isn't.

Maybe so, but did it never cross your mind that binning the laptop might be something of an overreaction?

forgotmyname

photome wrote: »

There's always one or even two.

I thought it a sensible question I am not exactly tech savvy and my 80 plus year old mum definitely isn't.

Its like buying a new car and getting a puncture on the way home and calling the scrap man to collect it and take it away.

Crinkmeister

OP was asking for help, not sarcasm. bsod advice was good.