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Recovering from Tech Support Phone Scam

Tags:
  • Phones
  • Support
  • Computers
  • Mac OS X
Last response: in Mac Os X
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June 20, 2014 5:55:21 AM

My aunt, who is particularly computer illiterate, fell for one of those tech support phone scams and followed the instructions of the man on the phone to allow him access to her computer. She claims she came to her senses before the end and feels that the probably did not let him fully in because he seemed annoyed when she was hanging up. That said, she can't tell me what she actually did.

So my question is what do I need to get her to check on her computer to make sure he did not install anything nasty or leave a door open. I figure making sure remote access and file sharing in the Network settings are turned off would be a start, but does anyone have any other ideas? Unfortunately l am not near her computer so will have to advise via email or telephone. She lives in a quite remote area, so driving the computer to a local shop with expertise would be an all day excursion.

Her computer is a desktop iMac (not sure what version of the OS). She shares files with a MacBook air laptop via Dropbox and has changed that password.

Thanks!

More about : recovering tech support phone scam

June 20, 2014 6:00:36 AM

oooo, this is a bad one.

If it were me and a family member, nothing less than a full reinstall. If she were not local and a good family member, I'd probably even spring for shipping both ways.

Trying to tell you how to tell her how to fix it will almost certainly leave things not much better than they are now.
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June 20, 2014 6:10:49 AM

Yeah that's sort of what I figured. I take it upgrading to the next version of the OS via the App Store would not help -- as it is just an upgrade and leaves user files intact? I will see if I can find some local expert to help her out. Unfortunately she's on the other side of the Atlantic from me!
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June 20, 2014 6:12:50 AM

cgmartin said:
Yeah that's sort of what I figured. I take it upgrading to the next version of the OS via the App Store would not help -- as it is just an upgrade and leaves user files intact? I will see if I can find some local expert to help her out. Unfortunately she's on the other side of the Atlantic from me!


Right. Full wipe and reinstall. Nothing less.
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June 20, 2014 6:15:41 AM

For now, unplug the lan cable and turn off WiFi
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