Site Hijacking

[Tullynally]

I logged onto this Forum & asked a question.

When I hit return, a site popped up wanting me pay for an answer to my problem.

It would not let me close the site & return to the Forum. No matter what I did it would only let me enter a credit card number to proceed.

I had to shut the computer down & restart to clear.

This has made me IRATE!

Tullynally

 

[Dzomlija]

I logged onto this Forum & asked a question.

When I hit return, a site popped up wanting me pay for an answer to my problem.

It would not let me close the site & return to the Forum. No matter what I did it would only let me enter a credit card number to proceed.

I had to shut the computer down & restart to clear.

This has made me IRATE!

Tullynally

I'd suggest running a full virus and malware scan...

 

[Corrine]

Hi, Tullynally.

It is indeed possible that the site you went to has been hijacked. However, as suggested by Dzomlija, it would be wise to scan your computer. I also suggest clearing Temp files as well. I recommend the following steps:

Download TFC to your desktop

• Open the file and close any other windows.
• It will close all programs itself when run, make sure to let it run uninterrupted.
• Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish its job
• Once its finished it should reboot your machine, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean

Please download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to your desktop.

• Double-click mbam-setup.exe and follow the prompts to install the program.
• At the end, be sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.
• If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.
• Once the program has loaded, be sure Quick scan is selected, then click Scan.
• When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.
• Be sure that everything is checked, EXCEPT items in System Restore as shown in this sample:
  
  
• Click Remove Selected.
• When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart. (See the Note below)

** Note **

If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove, you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts. Click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediately.

 

[StalkeR]

+1 for the TFC Corrine!

 

[Corrine]

Thanks, StalkeR and Joules. I agree. Oldtimer's temp file cleaner does a great job. Here's a bit more information about TFC:

TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder. It also cleans out the %systemroot%\temp folder and checks for .tmp files in the %systemdrive% root folder, %systemroot%, and the system32 folder (both 32bit and 64bit on 64bit OSs). It shows the amount removed for each location found (in bytes) and the total removed (in MB).

Before running, it will stop Explorer and all other running applications. When finished, if a reboot is required the user must reboot to finish clearing any in-use temp files.
-- TFC only cleans temp folders.
-- TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies. Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail.