Be careful on Craigslist

[Andy Chase]

Just an FYI to be careful while searching. I got a virus on my work computer that hijacks Internet Explorer and runs a face virus scan and brings up nonexistant viruses and they try to trick you into buying this special Antivirus software to delete it. So while I'm on the phone with our computer service company, the first thing he asks if I had been on craigslist recently. Apparently it's been tied into some postings. The worst part is I was not touching anything on my computer and Internet Explorer starts opening up adult websites which I do not go on at home or at work. So I had to shut my computer down for the last 5 hours at work, (made the day go really slow).

 

[Richard L]

Andy,

That's all over the Internet, not just on CraigsList. Anytime you get a warning from an unknon source or website stating that they detected a virus on your machine, you should leave the site immediately or close your browser. Never allow them to download or install anything on your computer.



A good antivirus program and a firewall will reduce your chances of getting caught by one of those phoney Virus Scan scams.



...Rich

 

[Woppy V]

Download, Install, and Run ---- Avast and SuperAntiSpyware ---- and you'll never have a problem. Both are free and very powerful.

 

[swshawaii]

Woppy V- Good info. Thanks, will do it NOW.

 

[Wes Davis]

I just posted this less than five minutes ago on another forum I frequent. GlockTalk.com





The only thing I can add is make sure after downloading Malwarebytes that you first update the program with all the new virus information before running the scan.



This is how I do it and just did it for a friend.



Restart computer in 'safe mode with networking'

Download Malwarebytes from download.com

If IE doesn't work try Firefox and vice versa

Install, update, run scan while still in safe mode

Delete all malware that is discovered

Restart computer



This has worked for me everytime.

 

[Roger Batts]

I refuse to click on a link inside a craigslist with the exception of the email address that they assign. Most of the time, I will flag them as a potential threat for that reason. If you copy the link and paste it in a search engine, it will tell you if there are any problems with that site.

 

[Bill Barber]

Avast rules

 

[Todd Cloutier]

One of our computers at work got hit by this. The only way to avoid infection when the fake virus warning pops up on your computer is to hit CTRL-SHIFT-ESC to bring up the task manager, and kill the iexplore process.



Malwarebytes will remove it, though I had to download it on a different computer since the infected one blocked the download site.

 

[Korey Kreiter]

Yep -- we got hit by that as well. It got past Vista Defender, and my legit anti-virus program. It was a pain to get rid of. I couldn't even bring up the task mgr. I had to unplug Lan cable, then I was able to attack it back.

 

[ray moyer]

yea... i got slammed with that... i just turned the cpu off for for my shift at work (8hrs) and came back ran a virus scan and everything was good



it was sooooo annoying it wouldnt go away!!!!! but yea.... all good now =]