Latest Computer Hoaxes
- j81829
- Oct 21, 2016
- 2 min read
Heart and Soul Computer gets many phone calls asking us about emails they received and if they should click on that link. Our answer is no! if there is any doubt. So we are going to be posting the latest hoaxes in the hopes you do not click that link.
1. Facebook Privacy Notice
Facebook is not making all your posts public, so posting an ineffective legal notice on your Facebook page is pointless.
2.Brad Pitt suicide-hoax virus could ‘kill your computer’
Brad Pitt is the latest celebrity to fall victim to an internet death hoax — and this one has gone viral.
Hackers are using the Hollywood A-lister's divorce from Angelina Jolie as clickbait in an attempt to steal information from people's computers.
A fake Fox News story alleges that the newly single A-lister committed sucide by shooting himself in the head at a shooting range.
But the story is not just false — it contains a virus aimed at infiltrating Facebook profiles. Malicious code in the story could "kill your computer
3. Beware of suspicious emails warning of a problem with your bank account, credit card or other services.
These emails can look legitimate, but contain links that will lead to malicious websites. It's called phishing and scammers will entice you to enter your personal passwords and information so they can steal your identity.If you are worried that there's a problem with your credit card or bank account, call the customer service number on the back of the card or on your account statement.Be careful of email attachments. They can install malware, such as keyloggers, which can track your keystrokes, and ransomware, a nasty type of virus that encrypts all your data, locking you out of every file including all those prized family photos. Hackers will say you'll get your data back if you pay. And even if you pay, you may not get your access back.
4. Microsoft Tech Support
More and more folks are getting hit by tech support scams, and in fact a staggering two-thirds of respondents quizzed in a global survey by Microsoft said they had experienced such a scam.Typically, these scams – which involve cybercriminals pretending to be genuine tech support representatives of Microsoft or other big companies – operate via simple phone calls, often playing on telling the user that they have a virus on their computer, trying to obtain remote access to the user’s machine, or even to extract payment for their ‘services’.
Microsoft stated that it will never proactively reach out to users to offer tech support, and that folks should be suspicious of any software or services being touted in such a manner – and that you should never give control of your computer over to a third party, unless you can confirm you’re talking to a legitimate support rep.
And of course the easiest way to do the latter is to end the current call, and contact the company yourself (preferably using a different phone to ensure the scammers haven’t remained on the line – this is a common trick with bank account scams these days, where they play a dialling noise when you pick the phone back up, to make you think you’ve redialled).
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