On 2023-12-02 23:27, T wrote:
Hi All,
My adventure in defeating an active hacker.
...
9) told him for the time being to turn off his computer when
he is not watching it.
10) told him if the installing updates screen comes back to
power off and call me immediately.
11) emptied his trash
Happy ending :-)
Hi All,
My adventure in defeating an active hacker.
9) told him for the time being to turn off his computer when
he is not watching it.
10) told him if the installing updates screen comes back to
power off and call me immediately.
11) emptied his trash
Your listing of the things that had to be done to save the day is a good stern warning to others. Those little devils can wreak such havoc on
naive users. I've heard of people so traumatised by similar attacks that
they keep away from all devices and the Net. Some are even made afraid
to use ATMs, and they'll go into their bank's branch office and ask an assistant to get their cash.
On 12/2/23 14:42, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2023-12-02 23:27, T wrote:
Hi All,
My adventure in defeating an active hacker.
...
9) told him for the time being to turn off his computer when
he is not watching it.
10) told him if the installing updates screen comes back to
power off and call me immediately.
11) emptied his trash
Happy ending :-)
It took about an hour for all the adrenaline to go down!
But I was chuckling underneath sending the criminal all
those <ctrl><alt><Del>'s.
Those criminals, which are an infinitesimal port of India's
population, give India a bad, undeserved rap.
The Indians who have moved here that I know are stand up
folks. And the Indians I have dealt with in the Open
Source movement are some of the sharpest tacks in the
box I have come across. (Tech support, not so much.)
I can see why the general Indian population hates these
criminals so much.
Ed Cryer wrote:
[snip]
Your listing of the things that had to be done to save the day is a
good stern warning to others. Those little devils can wreak such havoc
on naive users. I've heard of people so traumatised by similar attacks
that they keep away from all devices and the Net. Some are even made
afraid to use ATMs, and they'll go into their bank's branch office and
ask an assistant to get their cash.
Given that banks are closing branches wholesale how long before we see
the criminals setting up spoof high street banks?
We even get those fake M$ support calls here in Spain, in English. They probably know who might speak English.
The last one was over a year ago
or two. I faked a mighty laugh for a few second and hung up. Maybe they
took note not to try call me again 😂
On 12/3/23 07:34, Ed Cryer wrote:[...]
Graham J wrote:
Ed Cryer wrote:
And get rid of your Debit cards. There is no fraud
protection on them. And when hacked, they have access
to your banking too. Use credit cards instead. And get
them from a separate institution so they can not
link your cards to your accounts.
Graham J wrote:
Ed Cryer wrote:
[snip]
Your listing of the things that had to be done to save the day is a
good stern warning to others. Those little devils can wreak such
havoc on naive users. I've heard of people so traumatised by similar
attacks that they keep away from all devices and the Net. Some are
even made afraid to use ATMs, and they'll go into their bank's branch
office and ask an assistant to get their cash.
Given that banks are closing branches wholesale how long before we see
the criminals setting up spoof high street banks?
The internet has become indispensable. I don't think you can live any
kind of worthwhile life in modern society without it. It's all done
online; and someone who tries to get by without it is gonna create great
toil and trouble for himself.
You just have to become Net-savvy.
Ed
T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:
On 12/3/23 07:34, Ed Cryer wrote:[...]
Graham J wrote:
Ed Cryer wrote:
And get rid of your Debit cards. There is no fraud
protection on them. And when hacked, they have access
to your banking too. Use credit cards instead. And get
them from a separate institution so they can not
link your cards to your accounts.
This - debit cards versus credit cards - has recently been discussed
at length in this very group and the conclusion was that the (non) risk
of debit cards is very different in different countries.
Graham and Ed live in the UK.
I live in The Netherlands where debit cards are much *more* secure
than credit cards. For any transaction, you need the actual card ((a
copy of) the info on the card is *not* enough) *and* the PIN code. (For
a credit card, you just need (a copy of) the info on the card.)
Moral: Don't give country-dependent advice in a world-wide group.
I was once told by my bank that they would honour scams against the
credit card but not the debit card. I have friends who have been scammed
and their bank has honoured the loss.
On 12/3/23 13:08, Ed Cryer wrote:
I was once told by my bank that they would honour scams against the
credit card but not the debit card. I have friends who have been
scammed and their bank has honoured the loss.
It is totally at the bank's discretion. It is the
law with credit cards.
On 12/3/23 03:24, Carlos E. R. wrote:
We even get those fake M$ support calls here in Spain, in English.
They probably know who might speak English.
They have a list of numbers. They do not care what you speak.
It is the volume of calls they are after. They probably do not
even know what country you are in.
The last one was over a year ago or two. I faked a mighty laugh for a
few second and hung up. Maybe they took note not to try call me again 😂
Things I have tried and my customer's have tried that did not work
insulting them in Hindi,
asking them how the weather is in Pakistan (an extreme insult),
shaming them,
hanging up on them,
tiring of them having to bury them out back,
asking them if their family knows what they are doing,
etc.
The only thing that I have found that stops them is to put on
you best stupid looking face (helps with the voice) and telling
them in dumb, halting tones "But I don't own a computer.
I hate the things".
The criminals will challenge you once
and tell you their records show you own a made up brand name
such as Dell. Then response with "How did that happen? Would
you fix that for me?". They will agree and remove you from
their list. When you say goodbye, make sure and seal the
deal with "You're such a nice man." Works every time.
They can not scam a typical Spaniard in English, they must speak Spanish fluently.
It is totally at the bank's discretion. It is the
law with credit cards.
The law varies per country.
On 12/3/23 14:09, Carlos E. R. wrote:
They can not scam a typical Spaniard in English, they must speak
Spanish fluently.
Just out of curiously, would that be the beautiful
Castilian Spanish or a local dialect?
Mexico being our neighbor, we have a lot of Mexico
Spanish spoken around here. There is nothing wrong
with it, but it lacks the aesthetic beauty of
Castilian Spanish.
On 12/3/23 14:12, Carlos E. R. wrote:
It is totally at the bank's discretion. It is the
law with credit cards.
The law varies per country.
Indeed.
I do forget sometimes that this is an International forum.
Most of the English as a second language speakers here
have such a good command of English that I forget this
is such a forum. A lot of time the command second language
speakers exhibit here, including you Carlos, is better
than my own.
Just out of curiously, would that be the beautiful
Castilian Spanish or a local dialect?
{chuckle}
Mine is a mix. Castille, Madrid, Andalusian, south-east...
On 12/3/23 19:30, Carlos E. R. wrote:
Just out of curiously, would that be the beautiful
Castilian Spanish or a local dialect?
{chuckle}
Mine is a mix. Castille, Madrid, Andalusian, south-east...
Now I have to know if you speak the beautiful oxford
English the Germans speak and that you never hear
from a Yank or a Brit (including me)?
T wrote:
Now I have to know if you speak the beautiful oxford
English the Germans speak and that you never hear
from a Yank or a Brit (including me)?
Usually it's American English these days, at least with young people,
but of course that may change in the coming years since the American
Dream seems slowly to be turning into its opposite.
-jw-
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