Scams, Viruses and more found here in Wilmington this month 4/22

Following are some of the things we are seeing in the shop. Local trends if you will for last month.
Bad websites are back!
It feels like 2017 again. So many of the old problems and hazards we have seen before have suddenly flooded the market. Not all of these issues are even an issue, but they are enough to stop users and be an irritant at least. We’ve been getting a lot of calls lately on ANNOYING verbal announcements saying things like “your computer is infected /compromised DO NOT close the windows, do not shut down, call this number to resolve”
To prevent this, slow down on websites you do not know. Most of these issues start with Internet searches and end in a bad place.
Please DO NOT call me to listen to these messages. Please! Please! I’ve heard it all before and it is seriously annoying (as intended) please don’t subject us to that, we can just believe you – OK? You can just say your internet is hijacked and awful noises are coming out of it. You can also just shut it down by holding down the power button for 10 seconds, then calling us in the lovely quiet.
Ransomware – We have pictures. This seems to be the thing that scares you all the most. We have pictures and we are going to send them to your email contact list unless you go to the CVS and buy gift cards. Just NO. If this was really happening, there would be a website by now like the Walmart one, with those pictures of folks that didn’t pay the Ransom. You couldn’t keep that off the internet. So to review, no pictures, all lies, don’t buy gift cards ever for people you don’t know on the phone. Also the sheriff does not take payment in gift cards.
Cloned “minor accounts” – We had two reports last month of accounts being cloned and items being purchased off the credit card on those accounts. This one also happened to me a year ago and I’m not sure how to protect against it except to stay vigilant to your charges on your credit card.
PHISHING – Advanced Phishing attempts to get you to call a number on an email or text message. Please confirm your invoice attached. We are unable to deliver you package, airline tickets, prize money or we just processed your charge for your purchase of $400.00, if this is a problem, call us. NOPE. NEVER call the number open the file or or click the link on these. And if you do, know that nothing may feel like it happened but it might have. Viruses are done in two parts now, the pay load and the activation. Opening files with viruses may drop the payload. Always go to your account login and check facts there. Got an email from Amazon? Go to amazon.com and check your account there. The same information should be available there. And if you didn’t order something, ignore it, don’t be a sucker!
The phone calls – No way to stop it but if you want to mess with them I like to try and keep them on the phone as long as possible so they are unable to scam the next person, or use a child’s whistle (well deserved if you have been scammed by these folks) on them, or use an program like Jolly Roger. Depends on how much time you want to invest in this problem.
Remember we now recommend both Malwarebytes and an anti-virus (Webroot) for all computers.
Word documents and Excel spreadsheets are now spreading viruses. Also an oldie. DO NOT OPEN spreadsheets or Word documents you are not expecting or from someone you do not know. Macro viruses are now being embedded in these file types.
Phone viruses – coming soon to a device near you. Both Android and iPhone users take note, spyware has been found on mobile phones that can target device’s microphone and camera, as well as harvest information from apps. Read More