Im Confused
So this morning I got an e-mail Invoice for "my" subscription to rolling stone magazine. I don't have a subscription to them. I went and unsubbed my e-mail and checked my account receipts on their website because it was there on the side and it said that there was one payment last month billed to me and my address. I checked my bank account for anything suspicious but I didn't find anything from rolling stone or any magazines in there, just the usual stuff. But then I found one suspicious payment of $25 to craigslist...but I've never bought a damn thing from craigslist.
...I hate people
June 25, 2015
8 Comments • Newest first
@AveryMBII: The "PUP" things are stuff the scan identifies as "Potentially Unwanted Programs".
That usually includes "iffy" stuff that may not be directly harmful, but which has been identified as "adware" (things that display ads when you use them), or may track your online usage to try to sell you stuff, or other questionable practices like that.
That kind of thing you have to decide if it's anything you really need.
In most cases the answer is no, and it's best to just let the scanner remove it.
The malware definitely get rid of.
@BobR: I did a scan and it found around 20 things. Only one was classified as malware but the rest are PUP. Do I just get rid of all of it?
@AveryMBII I use a combination of two different free scanners to catch both viruses and spyware. You really need both types of protection to be sure you're covering all bases.
I use "Microsoft Security Essentials" as my anti-virus program which works for both Windows XP and Windows 7 and can be downloaded from Microsoft for free.
It works well, doesn't take up a lot of computer resources and it's automatic, meaning it both updates itself automatically so it can find new types of viruses without you having to bother about it, and it can schedule itself to automatically scan your computer so you don't have to do that either. I have mine set to update and scan my computer every day to be sure nothing gets past.
For Windows 8 and 8.1, Microsoft includes "Windows Defender" for free already built-into Windows. All you have to do is check your security settings to be sure it's turned on and your computer should be protected.
Then I use "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" as my anti-spyware scanner. They have a free version which is well recognized as an excellent deterrent for things like keylogging and browser hijacking as well as malware that can steal personal information from your computer. The free version has to be updated manually before you scan with it, and you have to remember run the scans manually also.
Their paid version does both automatically. I usually scan my computer with Malwarebytes about once a week, and whenever anything looks suspicious.
As Sezbeth mentioned, there are a lot of other choices available, but these are the two I've settled on to protect my computers.
[quote=AveryMBII]@BobR Apparently the rolling stone thing has been happening for some time now according to my mom even though I have no recollection of it ever being a thing because up till now I had never received any e-mails from them. So I don't think it's a password thing. As for my bank account I'm just going to get a new card today. I would like to scan my computer but I don't have any software for and I don't know what is safe/good for that.[/quote]
Try AVG.
They have a free trial for virus scanning and limited removal procedures.
@BobR Apparently the rolling stone thing has been happening for some time now according to my mom even though I have no recollection of it ever being a thing because up till now I had never received any e-mails from them. So I don't think it's a password thing. As for my bank account I'm just going to get a new card today. I would like to scan my computer but I don't have any software for and I don't know what is safe/good for that.
@AveryMBII If you haven't already, you should change all your passwords immediately, and make sure they're all different.
But first it would be a good idea to scan your computer just to be sure you're not just giving whoever's doing this your new passwords.
And THEN change the passwords.
@0Kevqn I don't know anything about craigslist, it just says that $25 was paid to craigslist.org which is a website I haven't ever visited.
How do you buy things from craigslist? I thought you met up with the person