Mitchell3
05-04-2013, 11:43 PM
Wanted to take a moment to share my Friday evening experience which actually scared me pretty silly.
First off to make it clear, this scam is not present on TM3 nor is TM3 infected with a virus hence why it is posted in the general section rather than the site issues section. So you should be safe (knock on wood).
Some of you may have heard of this one as it seems to be pretty popular once I googled it to try and fix it. However I don't know about you guys but I don't go googling info on virus' in fear of yaknow.. virus'. Anyway I was minding my own business last night doing some research going through websites that aren't your typical big name websites. Anyway it happened so fast the screen did some flashing minimizing and maximizing some stuff to make me think a popup came up that may have triggered it. Then BAM full screened is this alert. I read the headline and it says international internet security association or something. I forget the name they used but it looked legit. They had a picture as well as the Canada Flag and the Canadian crests too I believe. Anyway I read it and it says ATTENTION: your computer has been locked due to illegal activities due to one or more of the following articles. Then it lists several sections of the Law which relate to illegal internet activities ie downloading music, child porn, etc.. Then I notice there is this weird ass box thats all fuzzy and doing weird things and I'm like the hell is that. Then I read further. It shows your city, internet provider, IP address, and computer user name. I have no idea what my IP is so for all I know it could be fake. At this point I'm like holy crap what did I do this looks legit. I try to alt-tab out or click out of it but the screen is locked. It shows all these potential fines ie $250,000 And I am reading this further and I see YOUR FINE IS $100. At that point I'm like the hell did I do. I was seriously scared that I was falsely accused and I was going to be screwed. It seemed pretty legit. I cannot vouch for those who maybe actually know the laws, crests, etc to prove their the actual Canadian ones or just fake. I knew nothing so I could only believe it was true. But here's where the fear started to subside.
I read onward and it says you must pay in 3 days or criminal charges will be made against you. Once paid you must settle your violation in 7 days or your pc will be relocked and criminal charges made against you. At no point does it tell you what you need to do, where to go, etc. First, I think to myself, what kind of Government wouldn't tell you what to do if you broke the law. Second is this whacky payment method online. I have never heard of paying fees online which seems weird but heck its the internet age.. I have no idea if it is an real card (it requires your voucher or card number) I forget the name of the two methods but I had never ever heard of them. That's why I think its a virus scam combo, to scare you into paying this fine or if it didn't scare you enough, show you massive fines to think oh its just $100. Who knows what they'd do with your card info after... At that point I went back to my first point, if I don't have this "card", how do I pay and it says nothing. So I go to my laptop and google this so called international internet committee or whatever.
It comes up and it seems legit, so I click their website HOWEVER my laptop has antivirus software that I actually keep up to date. It says WARNING untrusted site. I press back which saved me my second computer I believe. I type in the letter "S" after the abbreviation of this internet enforcement board. Boom scam is the first suggestion. I search that and sure enough it seems pretty similar to what I have but it gets crazier. This is a tutorial site on how to remove the lock and virus. It shows what it looks like and it says: This is the lockout screen, and it showed the American versious with the FBI symbol and other American icons to give it that real look. It said that this virus has many forms and can be catered to any local region as to what it displays to make it appear real in that country. Apparently also according to this website the government would never spy on your computer usage or lock you out (conspiracy theorists enter here). Anyway I am relieved as its not real but it sucks cause now I have to fix it. I can restart my computer but I always get relocked. I scroll down more which talks about the appearance more. Apparently the fuzzy moving box I mentioned earlier is ACTUALLY where the virus activates your webcam if you have one and shows what its aimed at. THANK GOD I don't have one on my computer or I would have thrown it across the room out of fear. That is mad creepy. But again it plays on that legitimacy that the government is watching you right now.
Anyway I followed the tutorial and removed it.
The lesson I want to convey here is KEEP YOUR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE UP TO DATE. I am cheap, I don't like paying for things sometimes. I didn't update mine for about a year maybe or more. No issues. Your typical trusted websites are pretty good at not getting infected. However illegitimate websites are out there which will infect your computer, and as I learned not even when your necessarily downloading. Heck it can even be your trusted websites that get infected then infect your computer. Anyway had my software been active I imagine the popup would have been blocked and it would warn me before entering sketchy websites and ultimately stop the actual attack attempt if it got that far.
If in the event you do get it though, I also want to make you all aware it isn't real. I'm sure I didn't do anything illegal. However if I am missing in 48 hours, criminal charges were laid against me :chuckle.
Personally this scared the living crap out of me. From a kid I saw a law and order episode where something similar was happening, and of course GTA IV when you go on their "internet", and go to a certain website (if you played it you get me). Those two experiences always had me thinking that would seriously frighten me. Then to have it actually happen in the form of a virus made me freeze up in fear.
First off to make it clear, this scam is not present on TM3 nor is TM3 infected with a virus hence why it is posted in the general section rather than the site issues section. So you should be safe (knock on wood).
Some of you may have heard of this one as it seems to be pretty popular once I googled it to try and fix it. However I don't know about you guys but I don't go googling info on virus' in fear of yaknow.. virus'. Anyway I was minding my own business last night doing some research going through websites that aren't your typical big name websites. Anyway it happened so fast the screen did some flashing minimizing and maximizing some stuff to make me think a popup came up that may have triggered it. Then BAM full screened is this alert. I read the headline and it says international internet security association or something. I forget the name they used but it looked legit. They had a picture as well as the Canada Flag and the Canadian crests too I believe. Anyway I read it and it says ATTENTION: your computer has been locked due to illegal activities due to one or more of the following articles. Then it lists several sections of the Law which relate to illegal internet activities ie downloading music, child porn, etc.. Then I notice there is this weird ass box thats all fuzzy and doing weird things and I'm like the hell is that. Then I read further. It shows your city, internet provider, IP address, and computer user name. I have no idea what my IP is so for all I know it could be fake. At this point I'm like holy crap what did I do this looks legit. I try to alt-tab out or click out of it but the screen is locked. It shows all these potential fines ie $250,000 And I am reading this further and I see YOUR FINE IS $100. At that point I'm like the hell did I do. I was seriously scared that I was falsely accused and I was going to be screwed. It seemed pretty legit. I cannot vouch for those who maybe actually know the laws, crests, etc to prove their the actual Canadian ones or just fake. I knew nothing so I could only believe it was true. But here's where the fear started to subside.
I read onward and it says you must pay in 3 days or criminal charges will be made against you. Once paid you must settle your violation in 7 days or your pc will be relocked and criminal charges made against you. At no point does it tell you what you need to do, where to go, etc. First, I think to myself, what kind of Government wouldn't tell you what to do if you broke the law. Second is this whacky payment method online. I have never heard of paying fees online which seems weird but heck its the internet age.. I have no idea if it is an real card (it requires your voucher or card number) I forget the name of the two methods but I had never ever heard of them. That's why I think its a virus scam combo, to scare you into paying this fine or if it didn't scare you enough, show you massive fines to think oh its just $100. Who knows what they'd do with your card info after... At that point I went back to my first point, if I don't have this "card", how do I pay and it says nothing. So I go to my laptop and google this so called international internet committee or whatever.
It comes up and it seems legit, so I click their website HOWEVER my laptop has antivirus software that I actually keep up to date. It says WARNING untrusted site. I press back which saved me my second computer I believe. I type in the letter "S" after the abbreviation of this internet enforcement board. Boom scam is the first suggestion. I search that and sure enough it seems pretty similar to what I have but it gets crazier. This is a tutorial site on how to remove the lock and virus. It shows what it looks like and it says: This is the lockout screen, and it showed the American versious with the FBI symbol and other American icons to give it that real look. It said that this virus has many forms and can be catered to any local region as to what it displays to make it appear real in that country. Apparently also according to this website the government would never spy on your computer usage or lock you out (conspiracy theorists enter here). Anyway I am relieved as its not real but it sucks cause now I have to fix it. I can restart my computer but I always get relocked. I scroll down more which talks about the appearance more. Apparently the fuzzy moving box I mentioned earlier is ACTUALLY where the virus activates your webcam if you have one and shows what its aimed at. THANK GOD I don't have one on my computer or I would have thrown it across the room out of fear. That is mad creepy. But again it plays on that legitimacy that the government is watching you right now.
Anyway I followed the tutorial and removed it.
The lesson I want to convey here is KEEP YOUR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE UP TO DATE. I am cheap, I don't like paying for things sometimes. I didn't update mine for about a year maybe or more. No issues. Your typical trusted websites are pretty good at not getting infected. However illegitimate websites are out there which will infect your computer, and as I learned not even when your necessarily downloading. Heck it can even be your trusted websites that get infected then infect your computer. Anyway had my software been active I imagine the popup would have been blocked and it would warn me before entering sketchy websites and ultimately stop the actual attack attempt if it got that far.
If in the event you do get it though, I also want to make you all aware it isn't real. I'm sure I didn't do anything illegal. However if I am missing in 48 hours, criminal charges were laid against me :chuckle.
Personally this scared the living crap out of me. From a kid I saw a law and order episode where something similar was happening, and of course GTA IV when you go on their "internet", and go to a certain website (if you played it you get me). Those two experiences always had me thinking that would seriously frighten me. Then to have it actually happen in the form of a virus made me freeze up in fear.