Trick - Trap - Scam

[MikeK]

Earlier today I attempted to log onto eBay to buy something. As soon as I clicked on eBay's address a full screen message popped up, accompanied by a female voice, warning that my computer is infected and blocked and instructing me to call a phone number.

This is not something new to me. Several months ago the same thing happened when I attempted to log onto Amazon. But instead of following the "call this number" instructions I telephoned my granddaughter who is a bit of a computer geek. She told me to just switch my computer off. Don't do anything else. Just switch it off, wait ten minutes, and restart. I did that and the demon was gone.

Today I did the same thing. I switched off, waited ten minutes, restarted, but this time it was still there, warning me and telling me to call a number. Instead I switched off again, had dinner, watched some tv, and restarted again. This time the warning demon was gone.

This thing seems to inhabit sites where money will be spent. I'm sure if I followed the instructions I would be asked for sensitive information, like credit card numbers, passwords, etc.

I should mention that after restarting the first time this happened and the warning message was still there -- everything else worked perfectly. I was able to bring up email, YouTube, everything.

So if you are a computer dummy like me and you encounter this message when attempting to reach some money-spending site -- do nothing! Just switch your computer off, wait awhile, and restart. Do it a few times if need be.

 

[Lewdog]

Earlier today I attempted to log onto eBay to buy something. As soon as I clicked on eBay's address a full screen message popped up, accompanied by a female voice, warning that my computer is infected and blocked and instructing me to call a phone number.

This is not something new to me. Several months ago the same thing happened when I attempted to log onto Amazon. But instead of following the "call this number" instructions I telephoned my granddaughter who is a bit of a computer geek. She told me to just switch my computer off. Don't do anything else. Just switch it off, wait ten minutes, and restart. I did that and the demon was gone.

Today I did the same thing. I switched off, waited ten minutes, restarted, but this time it was still there, warning me and telling me to call a number. Instead I switched off again, had dinner, watched some tv, and restarted again. This time the warning demon was gone.

This thing seems to inhabit sites where money will be spent. I'm sure if I followed the instructions I would be asked for sensitive information, like credit card numbers, passwords, etc.

I should mention that after restarting the first time this happened and the warning message was still there -- everything else worked perfectly. I was able to bring up email, YouTube, everything.

So if you are a computer dummy like me and you encounter this message when attempting to reach some money-spending site -- do nothing! Just switch your computer off, wait awhile, and restart. Do it a few times if need be.

I've never had that issue and I use eBay, Amazon, Paypal, Square Cash, and many other sites multiple times daily. It seems you must have some kind of malware on your computer.

 

[Ringel05]

Earlier today I attempted to log onto eBay to buy something. As soon as I clicked on eBay's address a full screen message popped up, accompanied by a female voice, warning that my computer is infected and blocked and instructing me to call a phone number.

This is not something new to me. Several months ago the same thing happened when I attempted to log onto Amazon. But instead of following the "call this number" instructions I telephoned my granddaughter who is a bit of a computer geek. She told me to just switch my computer off. Don't do anything else. Just switch it off, wait ten minutes, and restart. I did that and the demon was gone.

Today I did the same thing. I switched off, waited ten minutes, restarted, but this time it was still there, warning me and telling me to call a number. Instead I switched off again, had dinner, watched some tv, and restarted again. This time the warning demon was gone.

This thing seems to inhabit sites where money will be spent. I'm sure if I followed the instructions I would be asked for sensitive information, like credit card numbers, passwords, etc.

I should mention that after restarting the first time this happened and the warning message was still there -- everything else worked perfectly. I was able to bring up email, YouTube, everything.

So if you are a computer dummy like me and you encounter this message when attempting to reach some money-spending site -- do nothing! Just switch your computer off, wait awhile, and restart. Do it a few times if need be.

What browser do you use?
Also, I bet it's still there, might want to do a malware and virus scan.