Hi-jack scam

[slimjim]

While surfing GH today and opening a pic on imgclick.net then opening a filefactory download link I got one of these "Microsoft Edge has detected a virus etc etc " message with a screen freeze which I know is a Hi-jack scam. I switched off the laptop left it for about 10 mins then, with the router switched off turned the laptop back on and did full scans with Avast; Malawarebytes and Ashampoo WinOptimiser (to scan start-up and Registry)

The scans found nothing so with fingers crossed I switched the router back on and all is well so far

I have a dynamic IP address which has probably helped to " disconnect me " from these scammers ( that's why I kept the router off to try and ensure I got a new IP address when I went back online.

Anyone more tech-savvy than me know of any better ways of protecting the laptop from this type of attack - or any advise on ways to clean this up afterwards?


BTW - I'm not saying that either imgclick.net or filefactory were specifically infected - I don't think that's the way these criminals work?

 

[slimjim]

Just found this on a tech forum - maybe this would work?

There is a way to escape this looping JavaScript call, it just requires some skill an a little luck. I had to repeat this multiple times before I got the timing spot on and the webpage went away. First of all you'll notice there is a slight delay when you click the "leave this page" button, until the prompt reappears. That delay is what you'll take advantage of in this fix.

**Note: "Ctrl" + "W"*is the shortcut for close window
First open your affected browser (Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer).
Hold down the "Ctrl" key.
Click "leave this page" in your browser window.
In the split second that the prompt is not shown you will need to press "W".
To get the timing right, try and click the "leave this page" and press the "W" key at the same time. If you press the "W" key too early, the prompt will block the shortcut from being initiated. If you press the "W" key too late, a new prompt pops up and again blocks the shortcut from being initiated.

Remember to hold down the "Ctrl" key while you are pressing "W". If you lift your finger off the "Ctrl" key before pressing "W" the shortcut will not work.

 

[slimjim]

An anti-malware program "Zemana" claims to protect against ransomware. Anyone know anything about it?:thinking::thinking:

 

[dargelos]

I went through a phase of getting these scam adverts a lot.
Each time I flicked the wifi off, opened task manager to kill task the browser and ran a cleanup with CCleaner, which is like Ashampoo, to remove temporary files that might contain malware. So far so good, no problems. These scams are designed to make you panic, I think their bark is worse than their bite.
For Zemana I can't find any endorsements that don't sound like they were written by the company. Perhaps it is an excellent product and its just me being sceptical.

 

[ton]

I use three browser extensions to avoid this kind of software:
1) ublock origin - adblocker
2) noscript - blocks all java script except sites that you whitelist
3) request policy - blocks all requests from sites to other sites, except sites that you whitelist

It is a bit inconvenient, because many internet pages don't work without java script and requests switched on. But after some time, the sites I regulary visit are configured properly.

Maybe it is paranoia, but I want to stay in control about what happens if I open a web page.