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Bad guys got my mom's computer. . . need help.

Tags:
  • Phones
  • Support
  • Computers
  • Windows 7
Last response: in Windows 7
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March 19, 2014 6:31:01 PM

So my mom got several phone calls from "Tech Support" asking her to get on her computer and follow their directions to fix a virus. She did not contact any tech support to prompt this, but on the fourth call she relented (she's old). She says she spent 3 hours on the phone doing things. She's really bad at following instructions about computers, so probably a whole lot less got done than you'd think. Obviously I'm very suspicious of this. I'm kind of a low/intermediate computer savvy person, so I was hoping to get some help here.

I ran a virus scan using Windows Defender, which found nothing. Then I downloaded AVG and ran another one. It only found a game my mom plays, which she paid for a while ago, that I believe is a false positive threat or at least a minimal threat not caused by these dBags. I asked if they instructed her to install any software and she thought so but couldn't remember what. Then she said "Ammy." I looked it up and it is a remote desktop program. I figured if they remoted in to her computer she was hosed. She said they didn't do that and Ammy wasn't on her computer, but perhaps someone else was remoting in behind the scenes and maybe they erased it to cover their tracks. Who knows. Anyway, I figured the best way to be secure was to take the computer to my house and (without attaching it to my network) format the drive and reinstall Windows.

So the question is, is that enough? Is it possible or likely that they put something in the BIOS or somewhere similar? I'd appreciate comments so I know how to proceed. Thanks.

Oh and my mother told me they called her back the next day. I figure that's a good sign. Maybe they didn't get anything. She doesn't use her computer for online banking, but she does do a little shopping. Also, she feels she was so horrible at following their instructions, they gave up. I don't know what to think, but as of today, her accounts are intact.

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a b $ Windows 7
March 19, 2014 6:35:20 PM

You have to watch out for these types of scams in general.

If you remove all partitions from a drive chances are nothing will survive, but you will also have to reinstall all software as well as backup files first.

AVG giving a false positive on a game happens from time to time for sure.

I highly doubt they placed anything into the bios.
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March 19, 2014 6:38:23 PM

it's good enough, if you are really concerned about the bios you can flash it, wiping existing bios in process.
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March 19, 2014 6:39:17 PM

Look no further. If the price is right, I'm your hired gun! LOL

Seriously though......it doesn't sound like anything is wrong as nukemaster was saying. Highly unlikely that anything is awry
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a b $ Windows 7
March 19, 2014 6:41:08 PM

It is possible that someone can remotely change the laptop's settings and there are possibilities that they hacked the laptop.

I suggest you format the laptop via deleting the partition and creating a new one then install the OS.

Though if the laptop is working properly now then I suggest that don't allow remote application downloaded on the laptop.
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