Computer Fraud

Just a few words of warning to my friends here. Have your family be careful what apps they google search and open up.
The wife googled a recipe for Stromboli and got scammed big time.
Clicked on the link in google and when it opened up the computer locked up with music blaring and a pop up warning that you had opened a trojan virus and Microsoft had locked your computer and another pop up with a telephone number to call Microsoft to fix your computer.

It was very realistic and very convincing but was a fraud to get you to use a computer repair service and get into your computer. Needless to say she followed the instructions and paid to have the service repair done and a new protection program installed.
I have to admit it confused me also and told her to do it because I couldn't understand the person on the phone and was ragging angry at the time that the computer had been compromised after all the money I had spent to protect it.
I had Norton wipe the computer and reinstall everything but what the person installed plus locked all my bank accounts before they could get paid so no money lost but will be a night mare for a while till we get everything cleared up along with blocking their phone numbers so the persistent calls can be ignored.
Norton also filed a fraud report and I did also so hopefully someone else will wake up with a head ache that deserves it.
The so called trojan was a csvss.exe which is a NT program and not a trojan so all you would have to do is shut the computer down and it would close the program.
Should anyone encounter this don't do what we did and just shut the computer down and it will go away.

I’m in IT for 37 years now. I’ve seen a lot.

My sons in laws parents had their computer locked and ransomed. They walked away from years of family photos vs pay the ransom. That would be my advice.

My mother was a victim of identity theft. Being she had no personal info on her computer, I think it was hospital records and an inside job.

This is an excellent resource for recovering from
Identity theft. https://www.identitytheft.gov/steps

A simple way to reduce the risk on your windows computer is to have two user id’s. Basically one has Admin rights and can install and upgrade the computer. The other account is a user account with no rights to install or modify the system. Normally, you’d use the “user”. If you accidentally clicked the wrong thing, it limits the damage that can be done.

Rogers advice is good. If you loose control of the computer, turn it off or unplug it. Take it to someone reputable to undo the damage.

Microsoft doesn’t call you. Always look up their numbers. Resist the urge to play games on your computer and phone.

Two of my favorite utilities:
SpywareBlaster, it’s really blasting nothing. It basically blocks your browsers from
Visiting known dangerous sites. It’s like a vaccine. Stops you from going places you should not... atleast the 20,000 they have catalogued... every month the list gets bigger.

The other is MalwareBytes. Generally, it can get rid of most bad things I’ve encountered that other packages can’t. This is mostly a detect trouble and clean it up. It goes after Malware.

If you are not computer savvy, don’t try to add programs on your own. Get help.

Roger, sorry this happened to your wife. I keep my credit locked.

I recommend anyone with assets, to actively manage their credit.

Think of it this way. If you are hunting and looking for easy broadside shots... an animal you can’t get a shot at because they don’t show their vitals is a smart one that gets away.

If you manage the credit agencies, your risk drops a lot. Your vulnerable target area can be a lot smaller. Most of us do not need to apply for new credit daily...

I unlock it when I lease a new vehicle.
I did drop a CC and add a new one this year.. so two times in 12 months i unlocked it and relocked it. Way less work than cleaning up a stolen identity.

Back to my mom. She filled a report with the Michigan state police. Officer told her she was wasting her time.
She had the perps address out of state. They were trying to get a 2nd mortgage. We wrote the Attorney General of Michigan, who contacted the other state, the guys in Texas (oops, did I mention a detail?) raided the address, and broke a ring. She was up on 40 charges and went to Federal prison. I’m proud of good attorney generals who use law enforcement properly, and win their cases). Said perp also has extended probation to make sure they don’t fall back into old habits.

That FTC gov link, helped my mom and I a lot. It took a couple years.


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The very same cautions, should be used on Cell Phones, also. My wife has an eagle eye when watching for this stuff, all they need to do is have you open the window and they are in. Watch your text messages for anything that wants you to open their site, in order to solve a financial problem or fix your computer, or a billing that you know nothing about.

Thanks for the advise and for now I think we are safe.
There is a new laptop on the way since the wife doesn't trust her old one and I have a friend who is in IT and has done work for my family but will be the first time for me.
Norton Life lock has been doing a good job so far but this time it wasn't anything they could prevent and was the nut behind the key board and that was a problem trouble is we have to experience these things to learn about them but be savvy enough to react the right way.
We were luck that they weren't real aggressive and was only looking to sell their service which I nipped in the bud as quickly as I could and locked my accounts before they reacted.

Is it over , well I don't know yet but we have done what we can to deter anything else from happening.
Bank accounts changed, retirement accounts changed Social security changed. Heck I changed everything that was connected to the financial end of it. Norton wiped all the transaction from the hard drive so I don't know what else there is I could do for now.

I didn’t mention how my mom found out her identity was stolen.

She got a phone call from Bank of America. They were asking her questions about her 2nd home mortgage application in Dallas Tx. Of course moms first reaction was distrust. Fortunately she wrote down the persons name, then we called BOA’s fraud detection department. They verified there were 5 applications in process using my moms credentials. They stopped those, and the original caller also said her credit report showed Wells Fargo was also checking her credit. I got mom signed in and we found the inquiries on her credit record. We were checking it daily. And it was like playing whack a mole. Federal credit unions, banks, clearly someone was selling her info.

Credit agencies charge for freezing your credit. I think it’s $10/agency. Of course my mom didn’t want to pay for it, they said the fees would be waived if there was a police report. Well, we can’t get the police report on an open investigation. After two weeks, she realized the person in Dallas was trying to change my moms address to Dallas, if she had succeeded, it would have got worse. Realizing the case was going to take months... so she paid to freeze it. The fraud alerts helped us find out an address change was received.

Had Bank of America’s loan processor not bothered to call my mom, and it would have been a huge mess. Someone tried to buy a Harley and a pair of jet skis in her name..houses, cars(nice ones)....I have a soft spot for BOA. They went out of their way..


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