Phone call saying someone is hijacking my computer

johnnyb58

Member
I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes a month ago and it did come up with some stuff that I have no idea of so I just let it do its thing. Today I got a popup Microsoft office starter 2010 update message that didn’t look official. It also said “English now available”, what the hell is that?

So I was suspicious and started a Google search of it. Within 5 min. of searching, I got a phone call saying my computer is being hijacked and press a button on the phone now. My search came up with a lot of stuff prior to 2014 some saying it is not from Microsoft while others say press ok. The Office support site said to go into word to check if the update was actually available and it was so I did.

I’m pretty sure that the phone call was triggered from my google search or possibility from one of the sites I opened in the search because the call was on a phone number only listed in the computer. I immediately ran Bitdefender and Malwarebytes not at the same time, but Malwarebytes came up with something and Bitdefender did not.

I wish I was more trusting of Malwarebytes because my trial run was over. This was something I know MacAfee used to do when the renewal was due and then all of a sudden it was stopping a lot of viruses.
 

aldan

Active Member
i would trust malwarebytes long before i would install macafee.that phone call was most definitely a scam.i hope you didnt press any "buttons"on your phone or let them into remote management of your pc.malwarebytes is worth the paid version in my books.it likely would have thrown warnings up at the first popup.to start with i would run adwcleaner from malwarebytes and get rid of anything it comes up with.you may lose a couple of minor programs that are safe (youtube downloader comes to mind),but easily reinstalled if you know they are safe.next run junkware removal tool.let it run and it will get rid of anything it finds.last run malwarebytes and quaranteen anything it finds.post the logs from all three in your next post so we can have a look.johnb35 is a genius at this and should be able to help.
 

johnnyb58

Member
No I didn't even answer the phone call just listened to it on the recorder. I've seen this scam a hundred time on the news so there was no way i was going to answer it. What disturbs me the most is the exact timing of me searching for info on suspicious popups.
 

johnnyb58

Member
The phone call was most likely random.
Wow that’s some coincidence if it was. The last time I had a call like that was probably over 5 years ago.

It's not the only time. I recently was looking looking at real estate and suddenly I was getting calls from moving company's. Weird!
 

Agent Smith

Well-Known Member
Scan your computer with Herdprotect portable. It uses 63 anti-virus engines. http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/Antivirus---Antispyware/Portable-herdProtect.shtml

Check out Freefixer, but research each module with a click of each item. http://www.freefixer.com/

And to get to the nitty gritty, check out stream Armor, but again, be careful what you remove. http://securityxploded.com/streamarmor.php

Those calls are always scams and never, and I mean NEVER let someone remote into your computer. In fact, those Windows facilities should be turned off you if you don't use them.
 
I run Malwarebytes. I also run Norton. Both are licensed, legal versions. Hardware and software firewalls are also important. If your computer / network security is important to you, you should invest in it. I am a firm believer in, you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to this topic.
 

johnnyb58

Member
I guess I'll have to invest in Malwarebytes and I already have Bitdefender. I still think that it was more than just a coincidence. Lately my Chrome has been acting funny when I go back a page, it doesn't want to reload the page. I usually have reload the page to get anything, but things go back to normal if I close Chrome down completely and restart.
 

serve2000

New Member
Microsoft will never call you to tell you computer is being hijacked. Heck, try getting them on the phone for anything! They're definitely not ringing you proactively, that's the main point. So then you take that and extrapolate on it - whoever is calling you, if they're saying they're from Microsoft, they're 99.9999% most likely lying. And that means you shouldn't trust anything else they say, like that they'll help you because your computer is being hijacked.

What is scary is, if wasn't a random call, that they got your number. In that situation it is totally justifiable to run all sorts of anti-malware, anti-virus, firewalls, etc. Check your hijack this for anything you don't recognize. Do due diligence and don't rule out reinstalling your OS (which is laughably-yet-understandably Microsoft's official answer for any compromised box.)
 
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