[Alvin]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I was on my work laptop last night when I first posted this.

The person called me on my telephone land line. I had some doubts, but I went along until I got uncomfortable. The person asked me to go to a website and install TeamViewer. I'm familiar with remote share programs like TeamViewer, so I Googled it quickly and it appeared to be safe. I downloaded it and received a UserID and password.

The caller then asked me for the user and password, and that's when I knew something was awful fishy. I killed power to my computer instantly and told him we were having a winter storm and we had lost power. I wasn't about to give him control over my computer. I immediately disconnected my computer from the internet.

My first thoughts were to un-install TeamViewer to insure he couldn't access my computer. I have software called DriveClone Pro on my computer. About twice a day, it will back up an image of my computer to my hard drive. It saves a total two weeks worth of these images. These aren't just a backup of My Documents, it is an image of the entire operating system, software, and documents.

I restored my computer to the previous day's image and there was no trace of TeamViewer at all. It also totally removed TurboTax 2013, so I'll have to re-install that. Restoring the image takes about an hour, then the computer always wants to run the Checkdisk option. After it came up, I ran a Norton Antivirus scan on the entire hard drive and found nothing. Once I felt all was safe, I connected back to the internet and let Norton update my antivirus. I'm convinced I'm clean and he never had a chance to install anything...

Mike

Mile, I'd highly recommend you either call in to tonight's live show and/or check out this link for scanning imbedded Malware, etc. http://www.geekradio.com/spywarez and go step-by-step exactly as shown.

The program is @ CST these are all professional IT guys who work on most all commercial and personal use platforms.

Call as soon as they go on air to get in the Q.

"If you would like to call in to our show and ask a question you can call into the show @ 713.526.5738 during the live broadcast on Wednesdays from 8-10pm CST."

"You can also use this handy contact form to reach us during the week http://www.geekradio.com/contact "

I'd be willing to bet you still have unseen Malware, Trojan, Spywarez, etc. But don't take my word for it, call these IT Pros for their opinions and suggested plan of actions.

Edit: About the show http://www.geekradio.com/about-the-show

[Captainofiron]

Originally Posted by py71lemans

I also got the call. I just told them it was F***ing Bull**** and hung up.

I always like to mess with them

Last time it happened they asked me for my ssn and I gave them 6 digits and they said, you are missing some numbers, and I said, uh no thats it

haha

I was just sitting on the couch pretending to type.

But I also dont give out my personal number, I just use my Google Voice number, so if they get annoying I can block them and set up a filter

[poncho-mike]

Thanks, all.

I don't think I have anything to worry about, in fact I may have over-reacted a little.

The caller contacted me by phone, not email in the first place. My computer was turned off at the time of the call.

My main concern was that the TeamViewer I installed on my computer may have been downloaded from a spoofed website and I had downloaded Malware. I wrote down the URL of the website he directed me to down on paper. I googled TeamViewer on a different computer and confirmed he directed me to the TeamViewer website, not a fake site. TeamViewer is safe according to several people I have talked with.

Since I never gave up my TeamViewer userID and password, he never had access to my computer. I don't even think he has my IP address because I never gave him the means to connect to my computer.

I consider it a near miss. Thanks to those who have offered input.

[py71lemans]

Originally Posted by Captainofiron

I always like to mess with them

Last time it happened they asked me for my ssn and I gave them 6 digits and they said, you are missing some numbers, and I said, uh no thats it

haha

I was just sitting on the couch pretending to type.

But I also dont give out my personal number, I just use my Google Voice number, so if they get annoying I can block them and set up a filter

Good idea. Next time I think I will play "deaf old man" and see how much of their time I can waste.

[george kujanski]

My wife called me today and said she had been getting these calls regularly..(we don't answer any we don't recognize)...today she answered just to see, same kind of deal Indian voice saying something is wrong with my computer..........aside from running Microsoft windows ...she hung up.

If they call back I'll have some fun.

George

[KS circutguy]

Good info here,my solution for my system is I use Acronis It usually comes with most Quality SSD's free.After I do my clean install of Windows with all the driver updates Windows updates,programs etc. I then make a [image] clone on another drive.
If I have problems I simply load the fresh [image]clone copy on my SSD takes less than 5min. and I'm back to a fresh install on Windows 7.
Of course I backup my Documents too,then add them after loading the clone, add the backed up My Documents.It all takes less than 6mim.
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/trueimage/
There is no way of knowing for sure if an infected system can be really clean other than re-installing the OS. Regardless of what so called computer guru's try and claim..
The guy's writing the script's know the holes that are vulnerable, also make dam sure you have the latest Windows updates,browser updates and Flash updates.
And only use Internet exploder for windows updates.

[Captainofiron]

Originally Posted by py71lemans

Good idea. Next time I think I will play "deaf old man" and see how much of their time I can waste.

hahahaha

that is a pretty good one