HALP. My parents got scammed, let someone have access to there PC..is there anything that can be done?

[tapedeck]

So my parents got a call from someone claiming to be Apple saying their Apple account was compromised and needed access to their PC to fix it...uggggh. They're old and don't know any better, they gave the guy access to their computer (but no SS #s, CC info, account #s thankfully) but pulled the plug about AN HOUR IN. How screwed are they, they already called their banks and put holds on credit cards. The call came from an official Apple customer service number (which scams do now) so they didn't know any better.

Is there any service that can check for accessed information?

Should they just run their virus scan..I'm guessing there's not much that can be done at this point other than putting accounts on lock down.

 

[BrutalInsane]

Heh same thing happened to my mom. I just reformatted her whole system and reinstalled the OS, better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Deleted member 18944]

You need to run malware bytes.

 

[Shogmaster]

If you are paranoid, back up data and do a OS refresh. Otherwise just change admin and various account passwords.

 

[kyle mechlachlan]

Boot it up without connection to the internet, backup all the important data, do a Windows reset and wipe everything.

 

[DJ_Lae]

I would probably do a full reformat, although maybe running some anti-malware program would be sufficient.

Lesson learned for your parents, I guess.

 

[Syriel]

Heh same thing happened to my mom. I just reformatted her whole system and reinstalled the OS, better to be safe than sorry.

Click to shrink...

This. Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be safe.

 

[Foltzie]

If you are paranoid, back up data and do a OS refresh. Otherwise just change admin and various account passwords.

Click to shrink...

If its not too much trouble, be paranoid, do a data backup and reformat.

Its a good idea to do anyways.

 

[tapedeck]

Sounds like a full wipe and reinstall is what needs to happen, they're in another state, I'll have to help them over the phone or get a friend over there.

 

[Shogmaster]

If its not too much trouble, be paranoid, do a data backup and reformat.

Its a good idea to do anyways.

Click to shrink...

I always go for that cuz I'm a paranoid Android. Added bonus is you might see snappier OS response if your install was more than 2 years or so anyways.

 

[Poutine]

Yeah full format and reinstall it probably the best way to go about this, usually these scammers will end up installing teamviewer as a backdoor and could get access to it anytime, might be worse if he had a full hour to play on it.

 

[Android Sophia]

So my parents got a call from someone claiming to be Apple saying their Apple account was compromised and needed access to their PC to fix it...uggggh. They're old and don't know any better, they gave the guy access to their computer (but no SS #s, CC info, account #s thankfully) but pulled the plug about AN HOUR IN. How screwed are they, they already called their banks and put holds on credit cards. The call came from an official Apple customer service number (which scams do now) so they didn't know any better.

Is there any service that can check for accessed information?

Should they just run their virus scan..I'm guessing there's not much that can be done at this point other than putting accounts on lock down.

Click to shrink...

An hour is more than enough time to do some significant damage and/or install a backdoor. Keep the machine offline until you've wiped it. Back up personal images, documents, and such. Work under the assumption that everything was compromised and change all relevant passwords/account details on a non-compromised computer.

EDIT: Also, I know you said they put holds on their credit cards, but tell them to keep an eye on their credit score too. I know companies like Capital One will check the deep web for you to look for any potentially liable information.

 

[Wraith]

The call came from an official Apple customer service number (which scams do now) so they didn't know any better.

Click to shrink...

I got a voicemail (or was it a text) like that, pretending to be from Verizon, from an official number. I contacted Verizon support after the fact to double check that it was fake.

 

[dom]

I would probably do a full reformat, although maybe running some anti-malware program would be sufficient.

Lesson learned for your parents, I guess.

Click to shrink...

Anti-malware scan won't help. They most likely had them install a program to get remote access. They were gonna try to get CC info. Be on safe side just back-up user files while the PC is offline and do a reset of the OS.

 

[Hyperfludd]

Unplug the machine from the internet, back up any important things and then do a full wipe is my recommendation.

 

[Conkerkid11]

I don't understand how stuff like this happens. It's a joke at this point that old people get scammed easily, so do old people not hear about this?

Was at my grandparents' house, and I hear my Grandpa on their home phone (what's that?) saying, "here, talk to my grandson, he's good with computers", and as he's handing me the phone he says, "it's someone from Microsoft, they said something's wrong with our computer", and I immediately hung up and handed him back the phone. They watch movies and television that constantly make fun of this very same scenario. How does this happen?

Kind of ridiculous how out of hand phone scam calls are at the moment though. 99% of the phone calls I receive are scammers. Something clearly needed to be done about this situation a long ass time ago.

 

[Android Sophia]

I don't understand how stuff like this happens. It's a joke at this point that old people get scammed easily, so do old people not hear about this?

Was at my grandparents' house, and I hear my Grandpa on their home phone (what's that?) saying, "here, talk to my grandson, he's good with computers", and as he's handing me the phone he says, "it's someone from Microsoft, they said something's wrong with our computer", and I immediately hung up and handed him back the phone. They watch movies and television that constantly make fun of this very same scenario. How does this happen?

Kind of ridiculous how out of hand phone scam calls are at the moment though. 99% of the phone calls I receive are scammers. Something clearly needed to be done about this situation a long ass time ago.

Click to shrink...

They grew up an era that was significantly different from today. Many of them have had to adopt to modern trends, such as owning a computer, but without really learning the security risks that are inherit with them. A lot of these scammers are getting pretty convincing too if you don't know what to look for. So it's not really surprising that they fall for it.

 

[henhowc]

Is it a ransomware situation where you need the data? If not just wipe it.

 

[super-famicom]

Gotta do a full wipe of that hard drive.

 

[tapedeck]

Yeah I'm having their friend come over to help them wipe the whole damn thing..I'm 2000 miles away or obviously do it myself. Thanks for the advice guys..I'm just so fucking pissed off this happened to them.

 

[petethepanda]

Yeah, best to be safe and wipe it. Sometimes they don't wind up doing much on the computer other than pulling up logs and trying to scare people into paying them by saying "oh yeah, these logs are bad, you have to pay us for virus scans" but it's best to be safe.

 

[Soundchaser]

Wipe the hard drive, it's the only way to be sure.

 

[Dalek]

Yeah I'm having their friend come over to help them wipe the whole damn thing..I'm 2000 miles away or obviously do it myself. Thanks for the advice guys..I'm just so fucking pissed off this happened to them.

Click to shrink...

Out of curiosity how did they tell you about it? I guess what I mean is how did they go from trusting this person to figuring out it was a lie?

Sorry this happened by the way.

 

[tapedeck]

Out of curiosity how did they tell you about it? I guess what I mean is how did they go from trusting this person to figuring out it was a lie?

Sorry this happened by the way.

Click to shrink...

I called my mom on my way home from work just to say hi and she started telling me how she was on the phone with this Apple guy..she said he had an Indian accent and was hard to understand so she asked to speak to his manager...yeah..so they got some other 'Apple guy' to play manager and kept her on the phone. Her and my step-dad finally got suspicious and after an hour and hung up. -_-

 

[Dalek]

I called my mom on my way home from work just to say hi and she started telling me how she was on the phone with this Apple guy..she said he had an Indian accent and was hard to understand so she asked to speak to his manager...yeah..so they got some other 'Apple guy' to play manager and kept her on the phone. Her and my step-dad finally got suspicious and after an hour and hung up. -_-

Click to shrink...

damn that's scary.

 

[Ebullientprism]

1 Install Malwarebytes. Update it. Disconnect from the internet and run a complete system scan.
2 Once you know your system is scanned (and you wont be backing up any infected files) do a back up incase they have important stuff on it.
3 System Reset if its Windows 8 or 10 (choosing the option to format the drive and remove all data), reinstall windows if its 7. If its older than windows 7 buy them a new PC. :P