New Ransom-Ware Scam Locking Victims Out Of Their Own Smartphones

[Panich52]

Source: CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Ransom-ware Scam

Here’s how it affects people: you’re surfing the web on your phone, when it suddenly freezes. You get a message that may look like it’s from an official agency such as the FBI. In some cases, you’re told you’ve broken some kind of federal law.

“It’ll say we’re locking your phone and you have to pay us money – a ransom – before you can use it again,” said Warren King from the Better Business Bureau in Pittsburgh. In order to get the phone unlocked, you need to use pre-paid cards.

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He says if this happens to you “the worst case is you can wipe your phone and start all over. So if you’re Android or iOS, you can download a lot of your data from the Cloud.”

As for how scammers get into your phone to begin with? Hong says it’s often you unknowingly downloading a fake app.

snip

“You should look at how old the app is. You want to avoid apps that are just brand new, and you also want to look at the number of downloads. If there’s very few downloads, then you should also be very careful about that,” said Hong.





Read more: http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/01/30/new-ransom-ware-scam-locking-victims-out-of-their-own-smartphones/

[Kalidurga]

1. Ah the old FBI scam only on phones...

If you talk to someone that sounds like they are from India (probably actually from Pennsylvania) talk to them real slow, ask them to repeat themselves a lot, then start talking hillbilly, be as obnoxious as possible while collecting information like their web adress, their physical adress, phone numbers (probably all fake or hard to actually trace), then tell them you are going to contact the FBI because what they are doing is highly illegal.

Also there is a high probability they are going to ask for bank account info so they can wipe out your bank account, it's not about the 79.99 or whatever they charge.

[malokvale77]

2. I have a smart phone...

that I only use for emergency calls and texting long distant family members. All calls and messages from anyone not in my phone book are blocked.

What I want to know is why everybody and their grandmother suddenly has my 45 year unpublished land line number.

[Mugu]

3. Just Google your name and you will see why.

You paid to have your number not printed in their phone book. You didn't pay to have them not give out your phone number when ask. Hence, unpublished versus unlisted.

I only know this because the exact same thing happened to me.

[malokvale77]

8. It is unpublished and unlisted.

I pay a premium for that.

Nothing comes up when I google my name. I am nonexistent on the web.

[ManiacJoe]

9. They most likely do not have your number.

What they have is a cheap computer dialing every possible number looking for someone to answer the phone.

[malokvale77]

10. I wish that were true.

I never answer calls I do not recognize. Yet, the same calls keep coming for months and years on end.

Someone is selling my private information. Only my utilities have that number.

[Kablooie]

4. I doubt if iPhones have ever had this happen.

You can only download apps that Apple has vetted and approved unless you jailbreak, which is a very small amount of users.

Also iPhone apps are sandboxed, which means they don't have access to other apps and many system functions are walled off from them. They can't take over and lock out the main system.

[safeinOhio]

5. I got a call from "Raj" yesterday

He ask if I was near my computer as Windows has just detected a bunch of dangerous viriuses on my computer in my Windows system. He needed to go into my computer right now or my computer would be damaged. I said, "but I have a Mac, no windows". He said Mac? Click.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

7. I like to ask "Which one?"

Often they don't know how to answer.

A woman several miles away hijacked my daughter's email account a few years ago. She made the mistake of badgering me by posting to me in a forum I controlled. I got her IP address. A week later a detective from our local PD was at her door. We've not heard from her for some time now.

[JI7]

6. most apps suck anyways