PLEASE HELP - Caught in filthy web

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:09 pm

Lorna
with all due respect to the others, you should not change your e-mail address to avoid the spammers.
If you have e-mails seeemingly addressed from yourself then you may have a "trojan" virus in your system.
There are ways to deal with these that I and some others might be able to help you with.
Simply changing contact details won't deal with the core problem. They will follow you.
Be a Scot, stand firm. Get the right sofware.
Come back to me
M

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:18 pm

Right Ho Malcolm

If there is a recognised way of avoiding this I would like to know. Feel free to PM me if you wish.

Regards

Lorna

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:48 am

First thing is to install McAfee. It’s the Rolls Royce and costs but it’s worth the money. {}
Next, install www.malwareremovalbot.com. This is free and will identify and hopefully deal with “Trojans” Try that and see if it helps. You can use this without McAfee.
It may be that you have opened a suspicious e-mail with attachment. In essence, resist opening anything of unknown origin in future.
Hoping this helps
M.

Edited by Emanday

Post by **Tracey** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:12 pm

First thing is to install McAfee. It’s the Rolls Royce and costs but it’s worth the money.

Speaking as you find..........................First off i had Norton which i couldnt wait to get rid of then i had McAfee which i wouldnt reccomend to anyone then man that repairs and services my pc uninstalled it and installed AVG free and so far its run like a dream. So dont let cost sway you expensive doesnt always mean better !

Post by **emanday** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:17 pm

Snap Tracey.

Norton's a hog and I found that both it and McAfee totally failed to find stuff that AVG pounced on like a wee terrier!

A friend kept insisting that her Norton was doing a great job till I installed AVG for her. Its first job after installation is to scan your PC. She was horrified watching the growing list of nasties it was finding!

Needless to say, Norton got tossed and I got a call later that day to tell me that her PC seemed to have found a new lease of life.

Post by **Tracey** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:20 pm

Mary, the thought of free anti virus scared me at first because it was "free" but am now a total convert !

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:08 am

Well Gals

Errrhmm. I too had McAfee first, then Norton then my local IT man (since left and sadly missed) recommended AVG, installed the free version and since then I have been very happy.

So, sorry Malcolm, but I had decided to stick with my AVG. I did try to put on the Malaware thingy but it just "saved" didn't give me a "run" option, no wizard came up and I have no idea where it saved itself to.

Running along ok at the moment, still get the odd email purporting to come from myself which I just ditch. Hoping my IT man may come home to see his mum at Christmas and can give me a hand

Lorna

Post by **emanday** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:57 am

Hi Lorna,

Sorry to say, but even with the best anti-virus (AVG of course) and good adware and malware stuff installed, you will still receive junk mail. Difference is; There won't be as much of it

Well managed sites such as Talking Scot have systems installed which don't reveal email addresses to visitors, not even registered ones. However, other sites aren't quite as secure in that respect.

As an ex-IT consultant I am only too well aware of the "email harvesting" coding used by some to obtain such info from seemingly trustworthy sites.

As as been said before, if the email seems to have come FROM YOU or you don't recognise the email address/name or the subject is not something you'd shown previous interest in - delete it.

Microsoft Outlook allows you the ability to view the content of an email in its preview screen without actually "opening" it. I have found this a very powerful way of screening what appears, on the face of it, to be a legitimate email. Many a junk message has been identified and deleted without the sender having any confirmation that it has been delivered using this.

Oh, Yes! Another thing - use the option Outlook has to block the sender receiving confirmation that you have read his/her email. (i.e. Tools, Options, Email Options, Tracking options - Select "Never send a response")

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:50 am

Thanks for that Mary. I am a happy bunny now - quite calm - until Thursday about 2pm

Have a Happy Christmas everyone.

Lorna

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:12 am

Oh dear, I seem to have started a ratings war.
I didn't mean to sound like an expert on this but have taken advice from people in the know which is what led to my recommendation to Lorna because it has worked for me over the life of this computer. I wouldn't go so far as to rubbish other peoples opinions on what is a complex subject however. If it works for you, you must be correct.
I'm happy to be wrong about this but, AVG and the like who offer free programmes are ok at dealing with fairly innocuous things that have already got through the system, usually via an e-mail. They cannot however, be relied upon as the main defence against the really serious stuff.This is where McAfee or Norton and others come in. Providing one or the other are constantly upgraded, they will serve most purposes, most of the time.
What with edited posts and all, I wish now I had kept my own council.
M