computer virus

[josper]

I was attacked by a new computer virus last night. I received an email supposedly from USPS. It read You have received a parcel and the carrier could not deliver. Print the shipping label and bring to your post office to get your parcel [there was a button to click on to print the label] I clicked on it and it downloaded a zip file. I tried to open it but could not. I printed the email and took it to the post office and was told it was a virus and I needed to have a pro computer teck clean out the virus. I have a program called hitman pro, a virus removal program that works very well. After this program is installed you make a copy of it on a flash drive and include a file called kick starter. I plugged in the flash drive and rebooted the pc, This allowed the anti virus program to sneak in and find the virus and clean it out. There was 9 trogon viruses and 10 tracking cookies. I am usually careful what I open in an email but this one really fooled me as I am expecting a package and thought something was wrong. The USPS does not send emails ever I was informed. If your looking for an antivirus program I highly recommend Hitman Pro , It flat out works.

[ShooterAZ]

They went phishing, and caught a josper. There are so may dirtbags out there trying to fleece people it's not funny. If in doubt...Don't click! Glad you got it fixed.

[willie_pete]

Right click on any links and look at "Properties". It will give you a clue if the site is legit or not. Of course ,NEVER click on a zip file.

WP

[bangerjim]

One comment........Norton 360.........period. Worth every penny. Does NOT slow down OUR computers, which are up-to-date technology and smokin' fast.


It catches viruses, worms, hackers, intrusions on our system every day automatically and tells what it caught, what it could do, and any action that need to be takes (normally nothing).

It caught two just today and kept them from opening or doing anything. These were from websites, but bogus emails are filtered and cleaned too!

Cannot beat it. I know it is not free and most on here seem to live "on the cheeeep". But something as critical as a computer system needs protection...and not on the cheeeeep! That is my business, my life, and my income.

Do what you need/must. There are all kinds of baddies out there!

I am safe and protected 24/7/365.

banger

[Gussy]

I have 360 and **** still gets in. I had to go in today and remove junk on my own.



One comment........Norton 360.........period. Worth every penny. Does NOT slow down OUR computers, which are up-to-date technology and smokin' fast.


It catches viruses, worms, hackers, intrusions on our system every day automatically and tells what it caught, what it could do, and any action that need to be takes (normally nothing).

It caught two just today and kept them from opening or doing anything. These were from websites, but bogus emails are filtered and cleaned too!

Cannot beat it. I know it is not free and most on here seem to live "on the cheeeep". But something as critical as a computer system needs protection...and not on the cheeeeep! That is my business, my life, and my income.

Do what you need/must. There are all kinds of baddies out there!

I am safe and protected 24/7/365.

banger

[josper]

On that email, the button said [print label] nothing about a zip file, that was the surprise. I'm usually on top of stuff like this, I slipped up. WP is right and I did forget to look at properties.

[jcwit]

The USPS does not send emails ever I was informed.

Well, yes the USPS does in fact, its called a "Click & Ship" shipping notification to verify an address. Got one coming right now.

[SciFiJim]

I was attacked by a new computer virus last night. I received an email supposedly from USPS. It read You have received a parcel and the carrier could not deliver. Print the shipping label and bring to your post office to get your parcel [there was a button to click on to print the label] I clicked on it and it downloaded a zip file. I tried to open it but could not. I printed the email and took it to the post office and was told it was a virus and I needed to have a pro computer teck clean out the virus. I have a program called hitman pro, a virus removal program that works very well. After this program is installed you make a copy of it on a flash drive and include a file called kick starter. I plugged in the flash drive and rebooted the pc, This allowed the anti virus program to sneak in and find the virus and clean it out. There was 9 trogon viruses and 10 tracking cookies. I am usually careful what I open in an email but this one really fooled me as I am expecting a package and thought something was wrong. The USPS does not send emails ever I was informed. If your looking for an antivirus program I highly recommend Hitman Pro , It flat out works.


I got the same email. I DO get emails from the PO because I sign up for tracking info for packages coming to me. The thing I noticed and made me suspicious is that it did not list the tracking number in the email. The legitimate emails ALWAYS list the number and places and times the package has been scanned. I deleted it without a problem.

Thanks for posting about it, I didn't think to warn others about it.

[Charley]

If you look at the grammar and spelling of the "message" it is pretty clear it isn't from the USPS, or anywhere else English isn't the primary language. Showed up last week in my email spam, also the wife's. Dumped it!

[waynem34]

Yep just got one and deleted it.Said they tried delivering it but was unable.Wanted me to print a shipping label.I'm not expecting anything.Thanks for the heads up.

[josper]

I'm glad you caught it .It is a very nasty trap.

[bangerjim]

I have 360 and **** still gets in. I had to go in today and remove junk on my own.

WOW.........you must be lurking in some very questionable areas of the net!!!!!!! AH....ha!

I have never had anything make it thru my 2 firewalls and N360.

We do not allow facebook, twitter, or any of the other "shinola" on any computers. And trolling in questionable sites es verboten.

But there is stuff out there and they want into your system for bank accounts, passwords, cc's and other goodies. Ant it happens really fast....faster than human intervention can stop.


Just be sure you are not in questionable areas, have a good virus scanner and do not keep valuable info on your system!

bangerjim

[josper]

Some years ago I used to grab some programs from "Limewire" that is until I got one with a virus instead of a program. In just a couple of minutes I watched helplessly as all the icons on my desktop blinked and went dead. Rather than go through all the **** to have it cleaned I reformatted the HD and reinstalled every thing .

[josper]

Re evaluating the situation I reinstalled Norton 360 as I can have it for free from Comcast. Kind of lost faith with Microsoft Essentials.

[MBTcustom]

That's exactly what happened to me last month, except I was totally unaware of it's presence until it almost had my computer on it's knees. Came in through a client's email addy, and my antivirus didn't catch it.

[oneokie]

Came in through a client's email addy, and my antivirus didn't catch it.

Did you notify your client that his email had been hacked?

[cbrick]

I've been using Trend Micro Titanium for the past several years and have had no problems since I fired Norton. It runs in the background and gives a monthly report on all the crappolla it stopped and deleted. I never have relied on Microsoft's so called "protection". I never click on email links anyway so there's no problem there for me but Trend Micro gives a pop up warning on any email it doesn't like.

Rick

[375RUGER]

Don't ever try to open an attachment that is zip file, unless it is from someone you know and you are expecting them to send it. If it comes unannounced, don't touch it. Lately the hackers have been getting crafty and I'm also seeing lots of alleged pdf files instead of the zips. Latest one looked "almost" legit enough to be from UPS. What tipped me off that it wasn't is the alleged tracking number provided in the email was not a like any UPS track I've ever seen.

[AlaskanGuy]

Being a retired computer nerd, let me paint a picture for ya....

Lets say, for a second, that you are a computer hacker type... You want to make a virus that will allow you to steal valuable info and such... And you dont want to have to make a computer virus that will beat every single anti-virus program out there, take way too much time, and anti virus programs are constantly changing.... Nope.. A good computer hacker will design something that will beat the most popular anti-virus programs... Not always the best, but the most popular... Using this fuzzy logic, what are the most popular anti-virus programs out there???? Norton??. Mcafee???? Maybe some others???? If you wanna beat virus stuff, you need to think like a virus writer... I would tell ya what I use, but then I would have to send you a virus to wipe your memory.....

I use 2 as a team effort... Too bad I cant tell you about them....lol. :kidding:

Ok... I use ..... Not sure if I can do this........ Ummmmmm oh all right.... I use ...

Spyhunter... Takes care of add ware, registry type virus stuff, and rotten cookies...

And whatever that dont catch (very little dont get caught by spyhunter), i get with avast...

But more then that, i pratice safe browsing habits... No porn sites, only web based email programs like yahoo mail or gmail... And never never never download anything free... Free just aint free.... No such thing...

If anybody ever gets caught with their pants down and actually needs a tetanus shot... Pm me... This is an area of expertise that I specialized in for years....I was director of Information Systems for a bunch of hospitals, and we were mandated by the feds to safeguard patient data, and I took it very seriously...

AG

[Cmm_3940]

Well, yes the USPS does in fact, its called a "Click & Ship" shipping notification to verify an address. Got one coming right now.

I also had the clerk at my local post office INSIST that they NEVER send emails when I asked her something or other regarding click-n-ship tracking. She actually acted offended that I would suggest such an outrageous thing. Obviously, they're wrong.

[waksupi]

I found out a few years ago, producing viruses of various sorts are entertainment for college kids in computer education. They figure they are smarter than anyone else. The FBI showed up and gave them an explanation as to their misdeeds. I never did hear the outcome of the case.

[josper]

I also had the clerk at my local post office INSIST that they NEVER send emails when I asked her something or other regarding click-n-ship tracking. She actually acted offended that I would suggest such an outrageous thing. Obviously, they're wrong. I read just the other day that the USPS was 1.9 billion in the red for just the first three months of the year. Could it be she is being protective of her job ?

[Freightman]

I read just the other day that the USPS was 1.9 billion in the red for just the first three months of the year. Could it be she is being protective of her job ?
That s a lot of RED!

[David2011]

AlaskanGuy,

I agree with you there. Avast is a very good AV program and the "free for home users" version protects as well as the paid versions. It intercepts most of my infected incoming e-mail and I just delete the rest that aren't from someone I know.

www.avast.com

This was never a problem until I started corresponding with a friend who sowed everyone's e-mail address to everyone else he e-mailed and one of them got an infection on their computer which spread everyone's e-mail address to the bad guys.

David

[dbosman]

Every anti virus software at any price is a game of catch up.
You pay your cost, what ever it is, and take your chances.
Backup your data files (pictures mostly as everything else can be recreated) on external media at least a tornado away from your home.