Has My Computer Been Hacked.

Paypal would never send you an email like that they would send you a message using the paypal system that would only be avaiable when you logged in

The paypal scam has been going for at least 6 months, as this article explains about it :

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=16028


It is amazing that these can go on so long without being common knowledge. It's more of an important issue than some items that go out on the national news programs as it can really affect people who fall for it but never seems to get a mention.

(30-12-2013 16:52 )circles_o_o_o Wrote:  Do you all live in Cheshire ?
Could that be a clue.

Poole in Dorset. I had the same myself last night.

can I add this to help you guys be aware of it?
(this came from my younger brother via email)

Important message from the National Crime Agency
The NCA have issued an alert in relation to a mass email spamming event. The emails are delivered with an attachment that contains ransomware; this infects your PC and encrypts your personal files. A time sensitive ransom is requested by the criminals in order to obtain the decryption code.
Advice to customers
All official emails sent by Santander will be personally addressed to you. If you receive a Santander branded email that does not contain your name, do not open the attachment, and send it tophishing@santander.co.ukOther suspicious emails should be deleted
Trusteer Rapport is designed to target banking malware, it is not effective against ransomware.

Click on the link below to see advice from the National Crime Agency.Advice from the NCA

And this is the advice given from NCA site; -

ALERT - Mass ransomware spamming event targeting UK computer users



15 November 2013

The NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit are aware of a mass email spamming event that is ongoing, where people are receiving emails that appear to be from banks and other financial institutions.

The emails may be sent out to tens of millions of UK customers, but appear to be targeting small and medium businesses in particular. This spamming event is assessed as a significant risk.

The emails carry an attachment that appears to be correspondence linked to the email message (for example, a voicemail, fax, details of a suspicious transaction or invoices for payment). This file is in fact a malware that can install Cryptolocker – which is a piece of ransomware

Cryptolocker works by encrypting the user’s files on the infected machine and the local network it is attached to.

Once encrypted, the computer will display a splash screen with a count down timer and a demand for the payment of 2 Bitcoins in ransom (Approx £536 as at 15/11/2013) for the decryption key.

The NCA would never endorse the payment of a ransom to criminals and there is no guarantee that they would honour the payments in any event.

Lee Miles, Deputy Head of the NCCU says "The NCA are actively pursuing organised crime groups committing this type of crime. We are working in cooperation with industry and international partners to identify and bring to justice those responsible and reduce the risk to the public."

An NCCU investigation is ongoing to identify the source of the email addresses used. Anyone who is infected with this malware should report it via Action Fraud

Sound advice can be found at GetSafeOnline

I've seen that blasted Police page scam a few times Now on the Malwarebytes train too

For any of you just coming across this thread here's the link to Malwarebytes - it's an excellent (and free!) anti-trojan/hacker preventer!

https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Those of you who follow me on twitter will know how I like to regale you with news of the latest phishing e-mails that come to my business e-mail account.

HMRC, Barclay's Bank, Delta Airlines, FedEx and the United Nations (to name but a few) have all supposedly written to me with the most URGENT issues, and it is essential that I fill the form with my details and return it immediately to prevent my bank account being suspended/my airline ticket being cancelled/my parcel being returned to sender unless I pay a service charge of $185 etcetcetc.....

And that's without the $1 million I won in a sweepstake I never entered, the endless cheap Viagra and willy-extension products, the God-fearing Brazilian lady who wants me to help her distribute $300,000.000 to needy causes before she dies (but the second time she wrote to me she forgot she was Brazilian and claimed to be Australian!) and the firm that can lend my business up to £5,000,000 on an unsecured basis at just 3% APR.

Many of these give me a good chuckle because I follow the golden rules:

1. Reading the email does no harm, but no matter how tempting, NEVER click on a link or open any attachments - that's where the trojans lurk ready to invade your system. Similarly, never download any "required upgrades" unless you know they are from a known and trusted source, no matter how convincing or professional they look.

2. Never reply to them no matter how tempting it is to tell them to f*** off - they haven't written to you personally, they are computer generated to random sites and addresses in their millions and if they know they have actually found a real one you can be assured that it will be passed on and you will be targeted with more infected spam than a Monty Python sketch.

3. Keep your anti-virus protectors up to date - you don't have to spend a penny to get perfectly adequate protection from the free versions of AVG, Avast and Malwarebytes. Make sure you run them regularly - at least once a week.

Having said all that, I'm not quite sure why one phishing scammer wrote to me in Norwegian

(09-05-2014 23:13 )mr williams Wrote:  ...
Having said all that, I'm not quite sure why one phishing scammer wrote to me in Norwegian

Hva er problemet? Det er velkjent at norsk er lingua franca av Skandinavia. Er der chickie in der baskie. kanskje den personen bare feilbedømt publikum litt, og du har gått glipp av en stor forretningsmulighet? Børk Børk Børk.