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Bogus Firewall Breach/System Files deletion notice

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  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Bogus Firewall Breach/System Files deletion notice
Posted by CapnMac82 on Saturday, November 24, 2018 5:27 PM

P)leae be advised that over the last week or so, I have been getting periodic messages in a pop-up dialog box waning me that Windows Firewall has been breached and all my system files have been deleted.  With an instruction to click on an "OK" button.


The graphics and the English diction are just bad enough to catch the notice of a savvy literate person.  It might catch the less-than wary, or ESL readers awry, though.

Shutting down the session window is enough to unlock the dialog, all traces of which vanish into the ether.

Back tracing through my firewall, it seems linked to one of the ad streams, when they load in the sidebar.   AdChoice seems to be the culprit.   The banner ads seem ok. 

Sadly, I have not yet screenshot this annoyance.

For reference, I am using the most current Firefox, with NoScript running, this on a Win7 64 bit Pro desktop through ZoneAlarm for a firewall, and AVG.

  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Philadelphia Pa
Posted by Nino on Sunday, November 25, 2018 12:24 AM

Thanks for the Tip.

Good choices on Firewall and Anti-virus IMO.  I use the same on 2 of my Pc's. 

That annoyance is pretty common.  Never click on Okay.  You may have just authorized a hacker to get into your system.  Just because the screen says something it does not mean it is the truth.

     I also get the phone calls telling me they can see my pc and " It harv probrem".  If I am feeling spunky I keep'em on the line for a bit and follow-up with laughter as I tell them who I worked for. I guess that's a cheap thrill for me.

   Nino

  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Franklin Wi
Posted by Bakster on Sunday, November 25, 2018 8:48 AM

Nino
That annoyance is pretty common.  Never click on Okay.  You may have just authorized a hacker to get into your system.  Just because the screen says something it does not mean it is the truth.      

Amen.

I had seen a similar message as Capns. It was pretty convincing, but just slightly off. As a rule, I never follow those popups through. If I can't close them, I control/alt/delete and close the affected window from there. 99% of the time that works.

I see weird things go on with the FSM website that I don't see happen elsewhere. A few times over the last few weeks the site has loaded up registering as un-secured. Add the strange popups that appear, the email issues, pages not loading correctly, something isn't right with the site. And, it hasn't been for a long time. I don't understand why this is allowed.

Zip it!

 

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Sunday, November 25, 2018 9:07 AM

Your first mistake was clicking the “OK” button. NEVER, EVER, click any pop ups to acknowledge them.

  • Member since
    May 2013
  • From: Indiana, USA
Posted by Greg on Sunday, November 25, 2018 9:54 AM

I don't think Mac ever stated he clicked "ok", did he?

I've always considered myself  a step above average as a computer user, and a safety geek, if not paranoid. As such, like the Cap, I'm always the one warning folk to ignore the sorts of thing Mac described.

The following doesn't have anything to do with the FSM site, but....

A few weeks ago, I got an infected email from a business professional with whom I do business. The content wasn't even professionally worded, and it was in red font. I wasn't awake, I was in the middle of important dealings with this guy, and I clicked.

This is not the first time I've gotten an infected mail from a friend or colleage, but it was the first time in all these decades I ever got suckered in, proving to myself that stupidly clicking bad stuff really can happen to anyone.

  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Franklin Wi
Posted by Bakster on Sunday, November 25, 2018 11:51 AM

Greg
I don't think Mac ever stated he clicked "ok", did he?

I don't see that he did either. And neither did I, if that was meant for me.

Here is a screen cap of what I was talking about earlier. This came up when I logged in today.

At my place of work we are taught to avoid sites like this because they pose a risk to anyone that visits them.

Greg--your point is well taken. There are some serious malwares going around. Recently, there were a few PCs that became infected at my place of work. Some of the stuff comes via email, but some of the stuff comes by visiting an infected website. Simply clicking onto the website infects your machine. I have a client where their place of business was nearly brought to its knees when their system was hit. They didn't have email for nearly two weeks, and the virus severely affected their OS. This happened  not more than 6 weeks ago.

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Bethlehem PA
Posted by the Baron on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 12:06 PM

Bakster

...Here is a screen cap of what I was talking about earlier. This came up when I logged in today.

At my place of work we are taught to avoid sites like this because they pose a risk to anyone that visits them...

Here's more about the unsecured URL for FineScale:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/feedback_help_and_testing/f/39/p/179022/2041624.aspx#2041624

The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen.

 

 

  • Member since
    July 2014
  • From: Franklin Wi
Posted by Bakster on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 2:18 PM

Hey there Baron--thanks for the link.

I spoke with our IT guy at work about this. He said that a non-secured site is more of a risk to people that exchange sensitive data. As an example, placing credit card orders. Hackers can access that data. We don't order through the forum, or to the best of my knowledge we don't. So, our exposure in that way is minimal. None the less--it seems to provide open access to people bent on nefarious things. It would make sence that the site be secured for the safety of all that visit it. Just my .02 cents.

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Saturday, December 22, 2018 8:36 AM

Hi Capn Mac;

 I read this and couldn't help but laugh .How many out there would fall for a locked screen and a 1-888 number answered by an East indian Fellow named Sam , from MicroSoft ?Especially when he hangs up after you tell him the F.C.C. is monitoring your computer ?

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