Help--Hotmail acct hacked, acct blocked.

[Paper Roses]

Yesterday AM, I checked Hotmail. There were strange entries--I had no time to play with it, had to go to work

Came home last night and could not sign in. Acct. Blocked.
The message tells me I can fill out all this info to have it unblocked.
On page 2 of the form comes the "enter Credit card info". Is this for real? If this is MS's way of coping, how much does it cost? No mention of that.

I understand that I have to change me password if I can get this unblocked. Anything else this computer illiterate Granny should do?

Thanks.

[hobbit709]

1. Somebody got into your computer.

Why does hotmail need credit card info-that screams SCAM.
First thing to do is run a complete security scan on your computer.
Do NOT go to any sites that want passwords until you have done this.

[ChromeFoundry]

2. Don't enter your credit card info

this is a phishing attempt. Use the prompts on the login (https://hotmail.com/) page to enter your security questions and reset your password. Choose a better password too!

[Paper Roses]

3. This is so frustrating. I tried your link and it took me right to the

same pages. Not only am I asked for current password, but also what are my groups, what type of info have I saved. Name contacts, CC info,its just too much. If I Google Hotmail block or Hotmail unblock, I Find no logical info.

They want my cell phone # too. I am not given any option to close the acct, change password or anything. I get as far as enter CC info, what sites do I visit. I'm not filling that stuff in.
I am left wondering whether this whole 3 page thing is a ruse or if MS wants to charge my acct X dollars to allow me to change my password. Why do they need my contacts? I can't even find a # to call. Bet they charge for that too.

Tomorrow I guess I'll have to call the local computer Guru and have him work this out. I am afraid I'm going to really mess stuff up if I can't access this acct in any way.
Anyone here ever have their Hotmail 'blocked'?

[Paper Roses]

4. Computer experts coming tomorrow AM to see if they can unblock

my Hotmail acct. I can't get beyond some of the stuff they want me to do without providing CC number.
Heck with this mess, I need a plumber too.

I guess I'll have to keep the bucket under the sink for a while. This is an unexpected expense.
Phooey!

[Betty88]

5. Had mine blocked

Was never able to recover it. I had a hotmail account for years one day I log in and it says account blocked. I went round and round trying to get back into it, could not "prove" that it was mine to customer service so I just gave up and opened another account this time with google.

Good luck hope you will be able to recover it.

[Occulus]

6. Sounds like you opened an email you shouldn't have opened

or ran a program you shouldn't have ran. Or both.

Here's what probably happened (and I know this because clicking on hotmail.com sent you to the same page you're complaining about):

You opened an email or ran a program that said it was one thing but did another. This whatever-it-was caused your computer to redirect you to a site other than hotmail.com when you go there. This fake, not-Microsoft site is trying to 'phish' your credit card information- that is, they're trying to trick you into giving your real information for a false problem of their creation, just to scam you out of money!

My *guess* is that if you try to log in to Hotmail from another computer you'll be able to. The request for CC info is a big clue, a giant red flag- Hotmail (and Gmail, and Yahoo) are free email services; they do not ever ask you for your CC info to verify you (phone number, yes; in the case of Gmail, their autodialer will call you to verify you). How would they be able to know it's true information? It's a free service; you didn't give it to them in the first place, how can they possibly check it!

This is a common scam, but unfortunately, it's very likely the problem is buried too deep in your computer to be easily dealt with. By now, you've probably spent a hundred bucks or more taking care of it. This isn't necessary! Here are a few tools you can use to prevent this from happening again:

Microsoft Security Essentials (if you can use it on your system): a free security suite from Microsoft that protects against these sorts of things. This is actually pretty good software and has alerted me to incursions from packages I've had for years and never knew were infected.

Spybot Search & Destroy: Another good package that will protect against bad software in real time. Runs in the system tray and has a very small footprint once it's set up.

Lavasoft Adaware: An older program, this helps protect you from adbots and spyware that might try to trick you into buying something or spy on your online habits.

The very best advice I can give: never open unsolicited emails, even from sources you trust. Your sister or your son could be unwittingly exposing you to these sorts of things. And never ever click on a link inside such an email, even if it says it's about kittens and puppies. If you get an email with a link inside it that you don't recognize, do not click it.

I'd be suspicious of my own mother if she sent me an email. Unfortunately, that's how email works. You just have to be careful as all hell.

[Paper Roses]

7. Thanks to all for advice. Yesterday I had a Pro come and put things in order.

I have been careful all these years with this machine but I bet I opened something I should not have, Only think I can think of.
While here, the expert reconnected my wireless network. Comcast gave me some bad advice a few weeks ago about a "Cannot find Server" issue I was having. They had me disconnect just about everything. Now that is cured too. As usual, I could hardly understand the CSR.

I was impressed with the speed and service offered by this local business. I have had other companies here over the years. This man was faster and less expensive. Amen for that, my next 'help' call is to a plumber.

I will call the tech tomorrow. Don't know the answer to this. The Router is doing it's thing but does this network have to be on 24 hours or can I turn it off somehow? Anyone know?
I was told that, if something else gos wrong, just use the laptop or get a new desktop. This old machine is pushing 10 years and he told me it is no longer worth the money it would cost to fix. New computers are now far less expensive. That's OK, I'll finally have to learn Windows 7. Don't really like it.

Again, thanks all.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

8. Great Post. Sums up a phishing scam in very basic easy to understand terms

for an "average" user...like myself, lol.

[Occulus]

9. There's another, more common one that's even harder to get rid of.

This is the one I hear about the most, and it's becoming so lucrative that the scammers are actually making enough money to hire real people in overseas call centers to try the scam in real life! Here's how it works:

You go to a website- some random site, not a major corporate site like Microsoft or Amazon- and you see an ad saying that you can speed up your PC by installing THIS APP NOW! Well, who doesn't want their computer to run faster, right?

So the victim downloads and installs this "free computer speed-up application" (you may have even seen these advertised on television) and it's most definitely not what it claims to be. Suddenly, you're getting popups on your desktop left and right telling you your computer has this virus or that trojan. Suddenly, your desktop shortcuts no longer work (or are no longer even there at all), your web browser will only go to one or two pages, and your PC becomes pretty much unusable.

Now for the catch. There's no real problem at all- other than the one the "speed up software" itself created. The scamware then tells you it can "fix" the "problem" for the low, low cost of $79.95. What they've done in this case is broken your PC themselves so they can force you to pay them to fix it. If that sounds like a mafia "protection" racket, that's because it is such a racket's digital equivalent. The only real difference is that, even after forking over the money to "fix" your computer, the scamware often leaves pieces of itself behind, sometimes to do the scam all over again.

The only real solution for this scam is to completely reinstall the entire OS. Even with expert help getting rid of it, you can't ever be 100% sure it didn't hide a piece of itself away somewhere. This particular scam is just an awful one, and as I said above, the scammers are raking in the dough hand over fist on this because most people just don't know any better.

I almost think all new PCs should come with some kind of brochure explaining this sort of thing in detail and in lay terms. I know of a couple people who have been caught by this one (I was in a hurry once, quickly clicking to close stuff, and almost accidentally fell for it myself, and I was aware of the scam!).

[Earth Bound Misfit]

10. Follow the money, it likely leads to "CyberDefender"

CyberDefender's affiliate program offers a $36 per sale commission--for a program they only charge $29.99 or less to buy-- the original crapware that "scans" your PC. They make their "real" money on the back end once the fish is hooked.

CyberDefender's affiliate program: http://www.cyberdefender.com/affiliates.html
About page: http://www.cyberdefender.com/company.html

Some other domains they may be using / have used:

cleanpcnow.com
cyberdefender.com
cyber-defender.com
doublemyspeed.com
verycleanpc.com
cleanpcnow.com
cleanpctoday.com
doublemypcspeeed.com
freepcdiagnosis.com
freshpctoday.com
getprotectedonline.com
maxmyspeed.com
mycleanpc.com
myidentitydefender.com
myprotectedpc.com

I'm sure there's hundreds, if not thousands more but they often lead to CyberDefender

[hobbit709]

11. It can be gotten rid of.

The first thing you have to do is turn System Restore OFF. Otherwise it puts itself back on the system on boot up. Once everything scans clean in Safe mode and then in normal mode, you can turn Restore back on.

[Occulus]

12. You can confirm this process?

This is the first I've heard of an actual easy solution.

[hobbit709]

13. It's worked more than once for me.

I see a computer infected with CyberDefender and it's ilk about once a week. About 1 in 5 have to do a wipe and reinstall. The problem in doing that is that most people don't have any rescue disks.