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    I've had this acer netbook with Windows Vista 7 'starter' and it's more then a year old.

    Since about 1 hour ago I got a message saying:

     

    Your copy of Windows was activated by another user.

    To help reduce software privacy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now.

    We will ask for your billing details, but your credit card will NOT get charged.

    You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it.

    Microsoft is commited to your privacy. For more information, www.microsoft.com/privacy

    Do you want to activate Windows now?

     

    - Yes, activate Windows over the internet now.

    - No, I will do it later.

     

    To continue, click next.

     

    So, I just randomly got this message and I don't trust it.

    The Windows starter was already on my computer when I bought it (I think) and when I press next I have to give my name, adress, credit card number.

    Could anyone give me a better explanation, thanks.


    Friday, June 17, 2011 1:36 AM

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    There is absolutely no reason you need to enter a Credit Card to be able to Activate. This is Definitely a scam using some sort of Scare-ware (Malware that scares the user into paying for something they don't need). 

    Malware that tells the user they have Viruses and such and says the user needs to enter their credit card to get the viruses removed, is the most common form of Scare-ware.  What you have described is new to me.

     

    The security people I sit by have asked if you wouldn't mind take some screenshots of the message and for any additional information you might have. (they say you should not click on any of the links in the message but if you could put your mouse over the links and copy down the URL the links go to, that would be a great help, as well).  Any information you can provide will help us track these guys down and hopefully pursuer legal action against them. 

     

    If you decide to do this, just take the screenshots and the additional information and post it here in this thread. (you can host the screenshots up on one of the free photo hosting sites, out on the internet, and just give us a link to the shreenshots).

     

     

    Thank you for your assistance with this,

     

    Darin MS
    Friday, June 17, 2011 7:56 PM

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    "Anneluoise" wrote in message news:53157a64-d997-4ca7-8df0-6aa6eef6e61e...

    I've had this acer netbook with Windows Vista 7 'starter' and it's more then a year old.

    Since about 1 hour ago I got a message saying:

     

    Your copy of Windows was activated by another user.

    To help reduce software privacy, please re-activate your copy of Windows now.

    We will ask for your billing details, but your credit card will NOT get charged.

    You must activate Windows before you can continue to use it.

    Microsoft is commited to your privacy. For more information, www.microsoft.com/privacy

    Do you want to activate Windows now?

     

    - Yes, activate Windows over the internet now.

    - No, I will do it later.

     

    To continue, click next.

     

    So, I just randomly got this message and I don't trust it.

    The Windows starter was already on my computer when I bought it (I think) and when I press next I have to give my name, adress, credit card number.

    Could anyone give me a better explanation, thanks.



    This seems to me to be a new form of scam - It's certainly nothing I've heard of before.
    I would suggest scanning your system with a good anti-malware app - MalwareBytes Anti Malware is the current choice (www.malwarebytes.org ) get  the free version , but do NOT take the option to activate real-time protection, just update it and use the scanner.
    Remove everything it finds.
     

    --

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
    Friday, June 17, 2011 6:20 AM
    Moderator
  • Question
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    There is absolutely no reason you need to enter a Credit Card to be able to Activate. This is Definitely a scam using some sort of Scare-ware (Malware that scares the user into paying for something they don't need). 

    Malware that tells the user they have Viruses and such and says the user needs to enter their credit card to get the viruses removed, is the most common form of Scare-ware.  What you have described is new to me.

     

    The security people I sit by have asked if you wouldn't mind take some screenshots of the message and for any additional information you might have. (they say you should not click on any of the links in the message but if you could put your mouse over the links and copy down the URL the links go to, that would be a great help, as well).  Any information you can provide will help us track these guys down and hopefully pursuer legal action against them. 

     

    If you decide to do this, just take the screenshots and the additional information and post it here in this thread. (you can host the screenshots up on one of the free photo hosting sites, out on the internet, and just give us a link to the shreenshots).

     

     

    Thank you for your assistance with this,

     

    Darin MS
    Friday, June 17, 2011 7:56 PM
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    This is apparently a variant of a bot Trojan that was described here on
    April 13, 2011 -
    http://www.pcrisk.com/internet-threat-news/6299-windows-activation-scam

     

    Lawrence Abrams posted this fix back on May 18, 2010:
    http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-windows-activation

     

    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
    Friday, June 17, 2011 9:16 PM
    Moderator
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    If you are receiving a pop-up stating that Windows needs to be re-activated and that you need to enter credit card information then you are most likely infected with a ransomware infection. This Trojan will cause a window to appear when Windows starts that states that you need to re-activate Windows for anti-piracy reasons

     

    Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking. To do this, turn your computer off and then back on and immediately when you see anything on the screen, start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard.

     

    Depending on your Anti virus scanner when you run a full scan this Malicious Trojan can be removed, MSE would definetly remove this

     

     

    Thursday, August 11, 2011 9:51 PM
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    "Antony W Chacko - Microsoft" wrote in message news:c377b818-6324-4a4f-b6b0-8212e47e47e1...

    If you are receiving a pop-up stating that Windows needs to be re-activated and that you need to enter credit card information then you are most likely infected with a ransomware infection. This Trojan will cause a window to appear when Windows starts that states that you need to re-activate Windows for anti-piracy reasons

     

    Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking. To do this, turn your computer off and then back on and immediately when you see anything on the screen, start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard.

     

    Depending on your Anti virus scanner when you run a full scan this Malicious Trojan can be removed, MSE would definetly remove this

     

     

    This thread is two months old – please do not resurrect such thread!
     
    Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
    Friday, August 12, 2011 6:54 PM
    Moderator