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Benedict Arnold

Ransomware, porn sites, and the Didgerina

Last week Mrs Didge received a warning that her smart phone had picked up four viruses from an "adult site". She was experienced enough not to hit the link inviting her to download the fix.

Clearing it was simple, but was it foolish of the scammer to add "adult site" when a percentage of such notices will go to people who never visit them? 

What do YOU do when you receive such warnings?

Posted - March 9, 2017
Tags : None

Responses


  • If it's on the landline i get mighty suspicious ... if the av installed doesn't pick it up I'm  sure not going to believe an anonymous  warning in a message ... unfortunately  many do... and thinking about it Didge it may be quite a clever ruse for those who never visit such sites .. the embarrassment factor may override the ability to think calmly This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 10, 2017 7:21 AM MST
      March 9, 2017 10:09 PM MST
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  • I hadn't thought of that. "What will the genius in the computer shop think of me if he sees this?" Good point.
      March 9, 2017 10:11 PM MST
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  • Or it could be me overthinking things again ....
      March 9, 2017 10:13 PM MST
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  • Hi Dozy,
    Since I am by nature rather fearful, I prolly miss some legitimate e-mails because I just delete anything I am remotely unsure about...I know what my friends "sound" like, so anything outside of that, well actually I have sometimes hit REPLY and just ask if it is really from them.

    What I have decided is that when you send that stuff, by the law of averages your message will fit a fraction of recipients, and apparently enough of those will 'bite' to make it worth the spammers' while...for example all messages used to come saying something about my VONAGE account, which I don't even have.

    * * *
    So (according to my hypothesis) the spammer doesn't care that Mrs. D gets his/her solicitation, because apparently there are enough hits on the guilty targets, and a fraction of those will 'bite'!
      March 9, 2017 10:12 PM MST
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  • I once had a spammer on my phone explaining how my computer was infected and what to do about it ... I'm fairly computer literate  ... haven't had do much fun in ages... i kept playing dumb and asking them to repeat everything several times to do what they wanted me to do... it's cheap Fun if you know what's going on
      March 9, 2017 10:16 PM MST
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  • Oh Ozgirl, I laughed at that...
    Why would the spammer want you to do something, that is, what are they trying to get out of it? Is there a way they can get money from you?
      March 9, 2017 10:26 PM MST
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  • Their aim is for you to fire the"suspicious"file... Generally an essential file... Part of the is .. so they can either charge you to fix it or to open a vulnerability they can exploit
      March 10, 2017 12:39 AM MST
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  • Been there. Done that. 
      March 9, 2017 10:31 PM MST
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  • Kinda like this? I love watching these videos. :)
      March 10, 2017 3:00 AM MST
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  • You're right, of course. They'll get a percentage.
      March 9, 2017 10:31 PM MST
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  • 7683
    OMG that's terrible, I never had such a experience ...she must have been puzzled...right?
      March 10, 2017 12:00 AM MST
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  • No. She knew straight away what it was. Just handed me the phone and asked me to fix it. As it happened it was very straightforward, which it would not have been if she'd clicked on the OK button.
      March 10, 2017 3:03 AM MST
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  • I've had that pop up on my phone as well one saying my phone has been picked to win a special prize. Sheesh!!
      March 10, 2017 3:01 AM MST
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  • I must have forfeited millions of dollars of special prizes over the years. Still, there must be some people who click on them or they wouldn't keep doing it. 
      March 10, 2017 3:04 AM MST
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  • I'm sure some do. It's horrible that people have to scam others like that. 
      March 10, 2017 3:07 AM MST
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  • An old lady from my creative writing class phoned one day to say that she'd received a ransom demand. I explained exactly what to do and made sure she knew that she mustn't send them any money. When I saw her again she said, "I sent the money anyway, just to be on the safe side." When people don't know what they're doing, and when they're afraid, they can become very vulnerable. 
      March 10, 2017 3:11 AM MST
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  • Especially the elderly. It just makes me sick to think these people get away with this crap. 
      March 10, 2017 3:51 AM MST
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  • Hey Didge, 
    My hypothesis builds on the point made by Ozgirl. I think we'd be shocked to know how many people actually visit adult sites, and those who do may well wish to avoid the humiliation of being "outed" by being infected by one. In a state of relative panic, a "quick fix" would seem convenient and thank you, unknown monitor, who ever you are. This of course, is counter to good reasoning, but I suspect there are victims, nonetheless. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 10, 2017 10:10 AM MST
      March 10, 2017 4:49 AM MST
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  • Probably a lot of them. I should think the percentage would be low but if you send out enough spam the actually number would be quite high. And, yes, I agree that more people visit porn sites than we might expect. Reports show them to be very prosperous. 
      March 10, 2017 10:12 AM MST
    1

  • She did the best thing. Ignore it and delete it. They'll try those scams on the phone and on PC's on a regular basis. Doesn't necessarily have to be from a porn site. My AV which is WebrootSecureAnywhere has green check marks next to reliable sites and yellow or red checks for ones that are suspicious. It doesn't matter where you've been as those scammers will try anything to get you to use something of theirs which is usually junk. I see it all the time and my Tech friend who has an online Tech service deals with it daily. Just don't ever open that stuff and you're safe.
      March 10, 2017 7:27 AM MST
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  • This one came in via The Guardian which is one of her main news sources. It kept popping up but all I had to do was delete cookies and content from the Guardian and it was cleared. 
      March 10, 2017 10:16 AM MST
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  • 3719
    My PC's protection seems pretty good, and touch-wood, I manage to spot, delete and block suspicious e-mails that do appear from time to time. Some of these try to pretend to be from my bank (or indeed a bank even if one I don't use!) or similar. 

    Most of the fraud attempts I receive are by 'phone, usually the gentleman with an Indian accent but English name who says he's calling "from the Windows Corporation and you computer has registered a fault". Sometimes I tell such callers " I'd better warn you, I work for IT security. Good-bye!", at other times I say "I know you don't and its hasn't. Goodbye!" and hang up before they slam the phone down.


    The oddest unsolicited, non-returnable call I ever had was from a man with a British accent (my own country, but he could have been anywhere) who asked politely, "Good Afternoon, Am I speaking to Mrs. +++++++++?"

    "Sorry, no", I replied, "This is Mr. +++++++++....." I'd barely finished enunciating my name before he slammed his phone down hard.  

     X
      March 16, 2017 7:29 PM MDT
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