Question on what to check after unauthorized scammer connect to my MacBook
Hi,
My assistant has a macbook pro and just a couple of days ago he was scammed out of $300 by fraud apple support. The called him up convincing him to connect to his computer and to buy some sort of gift card so they can "fix" his computer. Anyways, $300 gone and a valuable lesson - he did called apple (the official apple and confirmed they never did call - he was scam). The apple technician, the official apple, did connect and found nothing wrong with the computer. My question to the experts is, since he is no expert and doesn't even know what the scammers did while connected, what areas should he check in his computer? Any advice in a Post-Scammed situation is appreciated.
My assistant has a macbook pro and just a couple of days ago he was scammed out of $300 by fraud apple support. The called him up convincing him to connect to his computer and to buy some sort of gift card so they can "fix" his computer. Anyways, $300 gone and a valuable lesson - he did called apple (the official apple and confirmed they never did call - he was scam). The apple technician, the official apple, did connect and found nothing wrong with the computer. My question to the experts is, since he is no expert and doesn't even know what the scammers did while connected, what areas should he check in his computer? Any advice in a Post-Scammed situation is appreciated.
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noxcho
It is someone whom you gave access to your machine because he lied you about himself being a worker of Apple etc. Usually they ask you to download teamviewer or similar and give them the id and password. Then connect and install their scum software.
ASKER
Ha, ha, ha! just reread my question and saw "unauthorized scammer" - thanx noxcho for your input. But it's true, shouldn't have said "unauthorized scammer", like there were "authorized" scammers out there - All are unauthorized - just should've said "Scammer".
Well guys, seems like there is no way around this, all points to erase & reload OS as the most appropriate. Will do.
Last questions, and I know u guys recommended erase & reload, but are there any anti-virus or tools for detect and delete sniffers and Polymorphic viruses for the macbook?
Well guys, seems like there is no way around this, all points to erase & reload OS as the most appropriate. Will do.
Last questions, and I know u guys recommended erase & reload, but are there any anti-virus or tools for detect and delete sniffers and Polymorphic viruses for the macbook?
Depending on location,
Misleading someone to give you money is one thing. If they planted something, referring the matter to authorities would be a significant criminal act with potential of prosecution.
These fake support waste little time just pretending they are "fixing"
Nonetheless, prior suggestion as the only way to be sure, reload...
Misleading someone to give you money is one thing. If they planted something, referring the matter to authorities would be a significant criminal act with potential of prosecution.
These fake support waste little time just pretending they are "fixing"
Nonetheless, prior suggestion as the only way to be sure, reload...
First, if you're not familiar with a unix system, you should just reinstall.
You need to scan for rootkits, just like on a unix system. If you don't know how to look for them manually, then it's best to run a tool like chkrootkit. https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-announces-new-echo-dot/
You can install several AVs to try and scan for something, but that will only find known viruses and known malware. The main thing that Mac virus scanners scan for is Windows viruses to prevent them from spreading to a Windows machine. There's still only a handful of known Mac OS X malware, not because it's safer, but because it's not targeted. However, this does mean that any low key, specialized malware for infiltrating individual users may never be spotted until many years later.
I suggest a full wipe and reinstall if you're not sure and not familiar with OS X.
You need to scan for rootkits, just like on a unix system. If you don't know how to look for them manually, then it's best to run a tool like chkrootkit. https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-announces-new-echo-dot/
You can install several AVs to try and scan for something, but that will only find known viruses and known malware. The main thing that Mac virus scanners scan for is Windows viruses to prevent them from spreading to a Windows machine. There's still only a handful of known Mac OS X malware, not because it's safer, but because it's not targeted. However, this does mean that any low key, specialized malware for infiltrating individual users may never be spotted until many years later.
I suggest a full wipe and reinstall if you're not sure and not familiar with OS X.
ASKER
unix system? it's an Apple MacBook - u mean Apple macbook uses Unix? (don't understand)
Yes Apple uses OS X, which is a POSIX compliant Unix OS. If you don't understand how it works, wipe it and reinstall it fully. You're not going to easily find a trojan without understanding the underlying OS.
Macos9 was the last ..
Os X is based on unix bsd kernel
Os X is based on unix bsd kernel
OS X was originally taken from Steve Jobs previous failed NeXTSTEP venture.
I should also add that some Linux trojans that depend solely on scripting languages can run on OS X, although not very neatly. I've discovered and cleaned them many years ago from several User's systems. They used them as linux like systems so they were phished or trojaned with linux malware.
I should also add that some Linux trojans that depend solely on scripting languages can run on OS X, although not very neatly. I've discovered and cleaned them many years ago from several User's systems. They used them as linux like systems so they were phished or trojaned with linux malware.
ASKER
Oh, super to new to me, never thought Apple was o related to unix! Well, glad to say that the reinstall process has begin this morning... thank u all!
ASKER
Thanx!
You're welcome!