On Thursday, in a moment of gullibility, I fell for an elaborate phishing/credit card fraud scam. I got suspicious after the fact and called the credit card company, and I just so managed to avoid losing 300 bucks to a bunch of hacker assholes. Unfortunately, my main computer is now full of spyware and I have to find a way to get rid of it without formatting my harddisc, because I have no system backups. Great isn't it? -__- Especially when you're writing a university paper just around that time and need to finish it on Friday before heading off to Italy. Instead you can spend your day doing damage control.
Anyhow. It sucks, the paper was written though not up to par with my usual work, and I hoped on a car to Italy. Where, on Saturday, I had my one year blogoversary... without a computer or any way/time to schedule posts or whatever. It was very relaxing though. Good for the soul. I could take a step back, enjoy a breathtaking view of the Lago di Lugano, read the second Mara Dyer book, and just... breathe.
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| Balcony breakfast |
So that's why I didn't respond to comments or email and why there were no posts, not even a book haul. Again, I'm sorry and trying to fix things asap. I'm planning a giveaway to belatedly celebrate, as well as a couple posts on my first year of blogging. I don't think that I am in a position to give tips and act all pro-like and experienced, but I still feel like sharing what the past year was like for me and what I hope to do in the future. I hope you guys will stick with me despite my occasional social unresponsiveness because this blog and the people I met through it mean so much more to me than I ever anticipated!
Aww Carmen! Ugh, I hate those scams. Thank goodness you figured it out in time. And to get rid of spyware, you should use scan using Malwarebytes, Super Antispyware, Spybot Search & Destroy, and Microsoft Security Essentials in Safe Mode, then once again in normal mode. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteAnd ahh Italy! So lucky, I want to go there! :D
Happy belated blogoversary Carmen! (:
Thanks Kelly! Those scammers were SO good. They pretended to be from microsoft customer service and 'helped' me for over an hour to get rid of (non-existing, but how could I be sure?) threats on my computer before the question of money ever came up. I think they're doing this big scale and internationally to dozens of people a day. Thanks so much for your anti-spyware suggestions! Definitely looking into those!
DeleteAnd Italy was wonderful :) The apartment is just a couple miles across the Italian-Swiss border (I even get Swiss cellphone reception) but the climate and everything is so different :)
OMG, those guys! Do they have a thick accent and made you use a remote access program like "amyy?" They called me too, but I got suspicious when they made me go to a website and try to download a remote access program to access my computer. I googled the situation/program and caught them red-handed. They dared to call again a minute later saying it was all a mistake and my dad yelled WHAT?! for three long minutes at them before they finally gave up.
DeleteI think it's different people with the same MO. They used a remote program but somehow it all happened so fast... it was only afterwards that I got a bad feeling. And once I disconnected my internet (even though they told me to leave my laptop alone for 4 hours while their 'roboter' worked) they also called again!! The nerve. And they also wanted to start about how it was all a misunderstanding but by then I knew what was going on and I told them not to bother and that I'd report them.
DeleteIt's looking like I'll really have to format my harddisc though :/ I might risk it if I weren't using my family's Wlan - if there's something on my PC, it could spread to theirs. This is gonna be a mess...
"Misunderstanding" my ass.
DeleteYeah, you'll probably have to reformat your harddisc to be ultra safe. And don't worry, it won't spread to theirs unless you email each other, or use the same flashdrive, etc.
It sucks that you got caught up in a phishing scam, but I'm glad your credit card company was able to handle it. Your breakfast spot looks amazing. There's nothing like a good mountain/lake view for relaxing. Happy blogoversary!
ReplyDeleteThank you :) Yes, I count myself so lucky for that view - it's truly breathtaking.
DeleteThe credit card thing is fine for now but the spyware part of the scam is giving me a headache >.<
Sorry this happened to you, Carmen! But I'm glad you were able to have some time to relax. Glad to have you back ;-)
ReplyDeleteCat @ A2H
Thanks :) And yes, going away for a few days after all that stress was a lifesaver!
DeleteGood girl. Image you'd lost those 300 bucks? You would've needed them in Italy for sure. It's great there, ain't it? I love it. Blacony breakfast is incredible. =)
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not the worst to miss your bloggoversary. I had to change my plans for that as well (mine is in 3 days, on the 21st ^^).
Glad to have you back safe and sound. =)
Yeah, the thing with the 300 bucks would have made it all so much worse >.<
DeleteAnd I could've lived on that balcony :P
I'll have to do a blogoversary event soon, I just wish I was at a faster laptop to draft and link and format all these posts... this netbook's a lame duck that gets hung up on the simplest stuff.
Awesome that our blogoversaries are so close together :D
Happy blogoversary! Scammers are getting smarter and slicker -- I'm glad you didn't lose money, at least, but it sucks that you have to deal with this. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLisa
Thank you :) And yes, they were super organized and smart! Still, there were so many small things that should've made me suspicious. I'm aware now though and it'll definitely NEVER happen again!
DeleteHappy belated blogoversary Carmen! Man, it really sucks that this all went down during but when I think that you got to relax in Italy, I can't help but smile (and swoon -that view!) cause you probably soaked it all in just a bit more since you were mostly unplugged! If you're looking for non-formating options for you pc, this link: http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/computers-technology/spyware-adware-virus-trojan-rootkit-keylogger-removal-guide/t.56156111/ was incredibly helpful to me a few years back when my pc was hacked. Hoping it may be able to help you out too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Micheline :)
DeleteYes, in a way it was nice to catch a break! And that view is AWESOME!! It's an apartment my parents just bought (it's cheaper in Italy) and this was my first time being there. If you ever come to Europe/Switzerland, I'd love to take you there for a few days :)
Thanks so much for that link! I'll check it out but from what I've heard from about 3 PC-savvy people I know, I won't be safe unless I format :( which really really sucks because I have no windows 7 backup and because I just bought the new microsoft Office and don't know if I'd have to re-buy it etc >.< This is such a mess...
Ah, how awful! I'm just glad they didn't manage to scam you out of your money *relieved sigh* I hope you find a solution to the spywares that doesn't involve formatting.
ReplyDeleteI've never been in Italy (and I live in Europe...), but Lake Lugano looks beautiful (my parents were there and loved it, so I must go one day as well)
Happy Blogoversary!!! :)
You live in Europe o.O OMG where?!
DeleteI also count myself lucky that they got no money for their 'troubles'. But I'll do the formatting *sigh* A computer-savvy friend is helping me though, so it should be alright...
Thanks so much for stopping by :)
Oops, sorry for the late reply. I live in Hungary :)
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