crkathleen

Our computer got a virus about a week ago. Don't even know how we got it. My husband's been coming home after work and trying to remove it. The virus made it's way into the registery so when he would search the internet it would redirect him to other sites. He thought he had it all removed. (Had Norton antivirus and then we got Trend Micro. Neither one picked it up.) He went to our banking website (it said it was a secured website) and put in his name and password. The next page told him to enter in his info - hubby thought this was ok because he had deleted cookies. To make a long story short, they got his birthdate, social security number, checking account number, debit card number even the 3 numbers on the back of the card. He thought all of this was a little perculiar. He hit enter. Next page asked him to enter his email address and password. That is when he picked up the phone and called the bank. They immediately put a hold on our account. So on the 24th we had to open a new checking account. Then that evening our computer crashed. We went out the next day and picked up a new computer.
The redirct virus sent him to a mimicked page of our banking website. The only difference we saw on that page and our regular banking page was the year at the bottom of the site. It was 2008 when it should have been 2009.
I got an email last night from my bank stating my account was locked because of the pin number was incorrectly put in too many times and to click on this link to reset it. (I believe that was another attempt to get into my computer.)
Sorry, looks like I didn't make this story short.
I lost everything from my yahoo favorites list to all my patterns saved to the hard drive! (Fatcats BOM ect...) but that's all trivial compared to the big picture.

Shadow Dancer

I get those emails all the time telling me I need to verify my information. My bank never sends email! I even get them for banks I don't deal with. I forward it to the security department of whatever bank the email claims to be from.

Sorry you lost all your info and patterns...time to start collecting again.

S.D.

carlasuewho

I normally lurk but had to stick my head in here for a moment! I had a similar experience this summer. Computer crashed. I didn`t buy a new one, I hit F11 and did a system restore. But I still lost all my favorites and patterns. I learned from that to send myself an e-mail that contains the pattern link. Regardless of what happens to your computer, Yahoo (or whatever e-mail you use) saves all your e-mails on THEIR equipment. You can even set up a separate e-mail address just for this purpose!
I also crosstitch and most of those patterns are basically pictures on a grid. Those I save in a folder at Photobucket. Once again, they save all my pictures on THEIR end so regardless of what happens on my end, my stuff is safe.
Very sorry about your loss, hope this helps in the future.

Bevanger

that stinks. i ignore bank msgs. many times they are a virus

Baren*eh*ked_canadian

wow, that sucks a lot! At least you flagged it right away and called the bank! Imagine if it happened overnight, or on the weekend when you have to wait so many hours for the offices to open!

My friend had her wallet stolen on the bus a while ago, she called the credit card company right away to tell them, but she had to leave a message with the right department because it was in the middle of the night. By the time they got back to her the next day, the jerk who stole her wallet had gone online and gotten 3 more credit cards in her name and charged over 1000 bucks on her own card and I don't even know how much on the other cards. I guess if you apply online you can get the card number right away to start using it or soemthing.

Anyway, so the bank tried to make my friend pay for the charges on her card, after she reported it stolen because they didn't put a stop to it right away... UH hello!?


It must be a real pain in the butt to have to deal with that crap... :(

mcdaniel023

So sorry that happened to you. I am glad your DH caught it before you lost more. Good luck with everything. Sometimes more things show up later. Check your credit reports for the next several months. Those criminals have enough information to open accounts in your name. It happened to my mother in law and it was a total nightmare.

sewjoyce

My hubby thinks it's strange of me to not pay bills from my bank account "on line". I just don't like a lot of people having that kind of information....OK -- so I'm old fashioned! :D

b.zang

Wow, a real life story with someone I know! I am impressed with how quickly and efficiently you dealt with all of this.
My DH just bought a second external hard drive for backing up her computer and has been on me to get one. I think now I will look for one while the boxing day sales continue.
Not that I know how to do a back-up.

My best friend is a government IT person and her BF works in the security department. Apparently there is an entire team working 24/7 and they still can't keep up! Boggles my mind.

amma

I am so sorry that this has happened to you!!! You both must feel so violated!!!
I would keep all of this documentation in case anything else happens on down the road. Check monthly with all 3 credit reporting agencies to see if anyone is using your ID. Maybe sign up with one of the agencies that notifies you if any credit is applied for with your name.
Even run a criminal report on your husband periodically, with this info a thief can create a fake driver's license too, and you could have tickets,etc... that are in your name.
Unfortunately, identity theft can even hurt employment opportunities... when they run background checks on you. If a new job offer comes up, I would include that you have been a victim of ID theft in your resume.

Moonpi

The external drives are wonderful for backups. When @%##$@^^#$ Vista updated last week, I was left with a blue screen and nebulous message that no fix seems to get around. All the hardware tested fine.

Luckily, my backup allows me access on this temporary set. Otherwise, I'd be screwed. I only lost access to things done in the last month or so.