PRIMSUE'S HEART AND HOME


…thoughts from my heart on my love for God, family and the care and decorating of our home

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

MY COMPUTER WAS ATTACKED

Several days ago I was online and a window popped up that said suspicious activity had been detected.  It looked similar enough to my virus protection program that I carelessly thought it was.  It offered the option of doing a full scan, then listed the items found and offered to fix it.  As soon as I clicked fix I realized that it was not my virus protection program, because it immediately asked for my credit card number before going any further.  I quickly closed out of the window and then the problems began.  I began having trouble navigating around the internet so I closed it and decided to check and see if the unwanted program had been added to my computer – sure enough it had, but it would not let me remove it.  I thought I would get online and see if I could figure out how to remove it, but I could not access the internet.  I am not a computer whiz, but thankfully my son-in-law is – so I immediately called him.  He took my computer and spent many hours cleaning up the mess.  It took him a bit of time because the program had been written in Russian.  It was a form of malware that blocks your access to the internet once you open its program and do not buy their product.  I now have an additional Spyware program on my computer and I’m sure I will be more careful in the future.  By the time I got the computer to my son-in-law, he got it fixed, and I got it back, three days had passed.  I was lost without it and still have not gotten caught up on checking email, taking care of business, and visiting my favorite blogs.  As my son-in-law said – this type of activity should be illegal!  I am just thankful that he was able to fix it.

Blessings,
Sue

11 comments:

dee begg said...

Sue,

That happened to me last year and I know better than to click on anything. Took the hubby a whole day to get the darn thing out. It's amazing the lengths that people will go to scam you out of your money.

D

Lori said...

Yes, we had that happen too. Our computer was in the shop for almost a week. Not fun! Glad your son in-law got it fixed for you.

bettyj said...

I am so computer illiterate I have to be extra careful! Glad you could get it fixed.
betty

Dana~HomespunTreasures said...

Sue we had the same thing happen to us!!! I was without my computer for a couple of weeks. I learned my lesson though I won't click on anything now!!! I'm so glad you finally got everything straightened out!!

Blessings,
Dana

Cabin Fever Primitives said...

Sue, it happened to us also. Computer was in the shop for 2 weeks because this virus had spread like wild fire. Our computer guy installed another virus protection and every now and then it will pop up and tell that is just blocked a potential virus, thank goodness. He said that blog sites and facebook sites are the targets. Just remember so not click on anything strange.
Connie

BumbleBeeLane said...

I've had 3 attempts on mine in the last 2 weeks.I didn't click it just hoped for the best my virus protection caught it and shut down right away.So far so good.I'd be lost without my computer.LoL..Warm Blessings!~Amy

~Madalynne~ said...

Hi Sue.

This same thing happened to me about a month ago. For future reference, microsoft offers a free service that removes a virus from your computer. They walk you through the process over the phone. There's a long hold time to get through, but it's worth the wait.

~Madalynne

Jennifer said...

oOOoOo No!!!

Kattywhompus Primitives said...

Oh Sue that's awful. So glad you have a whiz kid to help you with such things...but what a bother, eh? Do you use AVG? It seems to catch most stuff and is FREE. :) Glad to have you back up & running again.
Rhonda

My Primitive Creations by Tonya said...

Hi Sue... sorry to hear that happened..anymore it is so hard to know what is what. Its happened to all of us at one time or the other... Anymore I don't open anything that pops up including my pop ups from my virus programs. If one pops up I go to the actual program to see if it really came from them.. I use the AVG program too and have for years it works really well.

Glad your back with us...

Blessings
Tonya

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

Wow, isn't it amazing what these people can do! Russian? Wow! Can you only imagine if they would put their smarts to good use instead of stupid viruses? So glad your SIL was able to take care of it for you and your back online.