Pc Hacked

[Paganess03]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and posting on behalf of a friend who's at his wits end. His computer has been hacked, and he paid 300 for new windows(windows 10) and Norton antivirus, when he accessed after new installs he said hacked was clever and back on pc, prior to new install he was using a vast antivirus. Can anyone help with what he should do? Would a firewall router help? He phoned up provider to try change his up add and was told no. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Shell

 

[fnf]

I don't quite understand what the current problem is but there are a few simple steps to minimize the risk of getting malware:
* Keep the system up-to-date. If it's Windows 10 then it's mandatory by default.
* Only download applications from official sources.
* Only open documents and run applications that you were expecting to receive/looking for. That is, it is almost guaranteed that anything offered to you whilst you weren't expecting it will be malware.

The vast majority of malware issues normal users have are ones that they activate themselves. Malware that could infect users without their actions are much rarer.

Regarding a firewall router, it wouldn't help because modern operating systems have a firewall enabled and setup to block unsolicited incoming connections by default.

If your friend doesn't have any data worth keeping in his laptop then a clean installation would remove it in most cases. If there are data that he wants to keep then it's better to get someone qualified to clean the system and copy it over in a safe environment. The steps to do so are quite complicated so I won't try to get into as it's easy to get re-infected.

 

[ubuysa]

I don't understand why your friend bought a new copy of Windows, what was wrong with the one he had?

Where did your friend buy the copy of Windows? if it didn't come from Microsoft it was probably already infected with malware when he got it.

Running Norton and Avast can be a BIG problem, you can only have one active real-time antivirus engine and one firewall.

He phoned up provider to try change his up add and was told no.

I've no idea what this sentence means. What is his 'up add'?

I agree with fnf, a clean reinstall of a legit copy of Windows 10, either obtained from Microsoft or pre-installed when the PC was new, all the drivers (let Windows Update find them) and all Windows updates, and no other software for now, will deliver the most stable Windows platform you can get. See whether it's behaving itself in that state before installing additional software.

 

[polycrac]

I've no idea what this sentence means. What is his 'up add'?

IP address?

 

[Oussebon]

How on earth did they have to pay £300 for a Windows licence and a Norton subscription? First of all, neither should have been necessary, but even if somehow they were they shouldn't cost anywhere near that?

 

[Tony1044]

Was this the old "Hello I am calling from Microsoft...we've noticed your computer is infected with a virus...please download this remote control software and let us take control so we can further help you" type of scam?

As they always lead to something like "You need to buy this software and that software".

This is NEVER Microsoft. The answer is to hang up.

A few things spring to mind: first off, he is almost certainly already behind a firewall - his internet router, even the rubbish the ISP's provide will have some form of firewall built in.

Secondly if it is Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 it will have a firewall turned on by default.

Windows 10 comes with Anti Virus built in.

I am going to go out on a limb and assume he has Windows 10. That being the case, I would bin whatever he was conned into buying and get the official download tool from Microsoft here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 - ideally do this from another computer in another location.

He will need a USB stick that is at least 8GB in size.

Once he has used that tool to make the bootable USB stick, pop into any free USB port on his computer and boot to it.

When prompted, do a fresh install and delete the partitions - he WILL lose anything saved on his computer at this point but the integrity of it is always going to be in question so he probably could do with some guidance to save e.g. pictures if required.

Reinstall Windows.

Let it update itself.

Use the built-in Anti Virus/Anti Malware product.

Download the FREE version of Malwarebytes' antimalware and run that once a month or so.

Sorry but at this point, in my experience he's probably at the point where nothing on his PC can be trusted and full format and reinstall should be done.

 

[Tony1044]

On a side note, a neighbour of mine got one of these calls about 10 years ago. They downloaded Teamviewer before smelling a rat at which point they came to ask my advice.

I went round and thankfully they'd not actually allowed them the remote control at that point but they were still on the phone.

An Indian accent claiming to be something like "Keith" was waiting.

"I am from Microsoft...yada yada".

Me: "Oh cool...me too...what's your full name? I'll look you up in the GAL and we can chat on OCS"

They hung up. Rude!

 

[SpyderTracks]

On a side note, a neighbour of mine got one of these calls about 10 years ago. They downloaded Teamviewer before smelling a rat at which point they came to ask my advice.

I went round and thankfully they'd not actually allowed them the remote control at that point but they were still on the phone.

An Indian accent claiming to be something like "Keith" was waiting.

"I am from Microsoft...yada yada".

Me: "Oh cool...me too...what's your full name? I'll look you up in the GAL and we can chat on OCS"

They hung up. Rude!

Lols, awesome! I read a few years ago there was a guy contacted by them and managed to infect them somehow with a reverse hookup when they tried to remote onto his - genius! Although it could be a tall tale.

To the OP, he’s be on a dynamic IP anyway so it would change after a period of time.

 

[ubuysa]

On a side note, a neighbour of mine got one of these calls about 10 years ago. They downloaded Teamviewer before smelling a rat at which point they came to ask my advice.

I went round and thankfully they'd not actually allowed them the remote control at that point but they were still on the phone.

An Indian accent claiming to be something like "Keith" was waiting.

"I am from Microsoft...yada yada".

Me: "Oh cool...me too...what's your full name? I'll look you up in the GAL and we can chat on OCS"

They hung up. Rude!

I've been longing to get one of these calls, just think of the fun I could have... :hammer:

I'm starting to wonder whether this is even a real post rather than one of those things that live under bridges...?

 

[Tony1044]

I've been longing to get one of these calls, just think of the fun I could have... :hammer:

I'm starting to wonder whether this is even a real post rather than one of those things that live under bridges...?

I must admit my first thought on reading was "I wonder if their friends roommate is coughing?"