Zeus Virus Removal

A new customer called me to say that his laptop was locked with a warning that he had a virus (Zeus virus) and it was playing a loud audio warning and displaying warning with a number to phone to have it removed.

I’m pretty sure that he didn’t have the Zeus Virus, he had some fake virus warning that is designed to lock you out until you call the fake tech support phone number to let them log in and sort out non-existent problems and charge a fortune for it.

His “free trial” of McAfee had expired, and after fixing the virus warning I recommended my combination of security software and did a full scan for him to ensure no infections remained.

 

If you have any type of virus warning on your computer, or thing you might be a target for fake tech support, please contact me on the numbers top-right of this page or via the Contact form on the right of the menu bar at the top of this page.

What to do when you get visual and audio alerts that you computer is infected

I have heard of several people in the last couple of weeks whose computer has shown fake warnings of viruses or system problems, often with audio warnings. The computer is locked and you can’t close the windows or get rid of the warnings. The warnings say you must phone a number to repair the computer. DO NOT PHONE THAT COMPANY, they are scam tech support companies. See here for examples https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2014/11/psa-tech-support-scams-pop-ups-on-the-rise/

Some of these warnings take the form of pornographic images in order to shock and scare the user into calling the fake tech support company and pay for their “services”. See here for more info. https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2015/05/tech-support-scammers-go-for-pornographic-shocker

Don’t fall for these scams, they’re expensive with the scammers and expensive to sort out afterwards. Instead, go to a trusted tech support company (like me) for professional help.

Here’s what you should do if the computer is locked by fake warnings, maybe with loud audio alerts:

  1. Put your finger on the power button and hold it down until the computer shuts itself off
  2. Restart the computer and run a full virus scan and malware scan (contact me for my recommended security software)
  3. If the results of the scans show infections, or you can’t complete the two steps above, or you feel that you want the computer looked at professionally, contact me.
  4. Be aware that a website you visited recently or software you installed or files you opened recently may be the cause of the problem.

Contact me for help and advice, virus and malware removal, or for my recommendations and tuition to keep safe online.

Netflix scam similar to the Microsoft scam

I just read this.  Please read it and familiarise yourself with how these things are perpetrated.

http://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2014/02/netflix-phishing-scam-leads-to-fake-microsoft-tech-support/

Never let anyone long in to your computer unless you know them personally and trust them.

If you need any help or advice, please contact me.