I was doing some searching for Sim related information in the net. Some one asked a question, so I was checking out some information for them. I do have protection that warns me before I go into a site that there is an issue with it, and I avoid those like the plague.
I found one link that looked like it was dealing with the subject of what I was looking for, so I clicked on it. My computer was directed to some official government looking web page, and the next thing it was accusing me of downloading some pirated music, and that my browser would now be locked up and I would be forced to pay this really huge fine. I have NEVER in my life ever downloaded any music, that I have not paid for. I have NEVER downloaded any movies or anything else, unless I have paid for.
To get away from this, I had to completely shut my computer down, by pushing the power button. I did run a virus scan and nothing was found. Does anyone know what the bleep just happened? Right now I'm nervous as a chicken that is cornered by something that wants to eat it.
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Obviously that doesn't happen if you get accused of pirating they'd probably just come to your house or send you a letter.
One of my friends was accused of pirating movies he just got a warning in the mail.
I know those sites can be scary but you really don't need to be worried. Go eat some chocolate and cuddle a kitten and run a scan for malware as well
If you are suspected of pirating, whenever you try to access the internet at all, it will direct you to a page by your ISP. It tells you that you've been found downloading suspicious files, then asks you to confirm that the name associated with your ISP is indeed you. You will get this 2-3 times if you do not stop, then you will receive something in the mail, which normally includes a court date.
So, do not worry. The 'government' will never contact you, but your ISP will. They also email you 1-2 times before doing the whole 'confirm this is you' thing. You would know if your ISP was suspecting you of pirating stuff.
The important thing is, do not pay anything, and ignore it. (You can also do this if it's actually your ISP contacting you, as your records get erased after awhile and they'll stop bothering you.) *Ahem* I mean, pirating it bad! Don't do it kids!
This is a new form of scam. They really present a believable webpage, telling you to buy off investigation by paying a small sum though a money-service, typically giving you 6 hours to pay up.
I was hit by one of those too, but I was accused of searching for child pron, while all I did was surfing sites for gay women. LOL
Anyway, in the Netherlands investigative services are not allowed to operate like that under any circumstance and a person under investigation can't buy his/her way out of it. Besides, if I truly had been doing what they 'accused' me of, trust me, the first thing the dutch judicial system does is arresting me merely at hint of suspicion and forget about me for a week before interrogating me.
Another thing is that all transactions with the dutch government go through iDeal as a preferred moneybroker.
You can safely forget about that page. They gamble on your fear telling you pay up.
I actually had to remove the webcam from the monitor because it was taking his picture when it did this. (Built into the monitor, so I had to figure out how to keep it from being functional.) These scams have been around a long time. You didn't do anything wrong, nothing to be worried about, but do let your AV company know what site that was and what happened, because obviously, your protection failed you, just as mine did those three times. . .
One way that's worked for me (other than reformatting) is running a free program called Malwarebytes. You need to either be in Safe Mode or disconnected from the internet when you run it, or else the darned thing will keep popping up. The only thing is that some of these are so nasty that they block you from downloading Malwarebytes or any other program that might help you (Spybot Search & Destroy is another).
Here's hoping you didn't get hit by one of the really nasty ones and that it's all over now.
Sorry this happened to you. Sounds scary.
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