Quote:
Originally Posted by esprit111
I am in England, so this may not be relevant elsewhere.
Last week all of a sudden my computer screen changed and I got a screen saying that my computer was now being controlled by some police department and that I had violated some UK law and Interpol law about viewing child porn (which I hadn't and never will).
My name even appeared on the screen.
There was a demand to pay a fine, but I was so flummoxed and scared I just tried to close down the computer but I could't do anything - I still had this police notice on screen - I couldn't remove it - so I just unplugged everything.
I then plugged everything back in, restarted the computer and all was well and working normally. There has been no further incidents and no knock on the door. so I assume it was a very clever scam.
I can't remember what site it was I was viewing, but it was one I have logged onto many times.
All I can say is that at the time it was very very scary.
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Not to repeat anything that anyone else has already said, but many 'mundane' viruses or malwares work by denying very basic services and demanding a ransom, either by posing as a proper authority with plausible jurisdiction, or by simply telling you its fucked you and that the only way to unfuck it is to pay them to.
Often the programmes that do this are extremely simple and very easy to get rid of. Some, usually designed to hold far wealthier people (or corporations, to be precise) can be very complex and much more difficult to remove. The chances of encountering something truly horrific are quite slim, but you will very often brush with nasty bugs through third parties.
I encountered a russian 'ransomware' off a similar pic site while searching for some obscure videogame or another (I look for screenshots since I don't know the name). It basically 'disappeared' my start button! After running my virus software it said I was infected with a pretty common virus that did exactly that - denied elements of service in the hope that I will pay my way out of it. Fortunately modern operating systems are resilient to a degree, and in this case that was the worst it could do to me. A boot-scan soon fixed his fee.
Anyways. Sorry to waffle about it, just saying that sort of thing is common as muck and this probably won't be your last brush with it.