Files held hostage, then rescued: Watch out for Ransomware

by Barbara Sherf
Posted 8/12/21

It’s a nightmare scenario: You’re doing work, answering emails or browsing the web when, suddenly, your computer or mobile device stops working. A taunting message takes over your screen…

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Files held hostage, then rescued: Watch out for Ransomware

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It’s a nightmare scenario: You’re doing work, answering emails or browsing the web when, suddenly, your computer or mobile device stops working. A taunting message takes over your screen, informing you that some faceless internet villain has seized control of the machine and all of your data. To get it back, the message claims, you’ll have to fork over a payment.  It’s called ransomeware and two local women were recently targeted and almost scammed. 

According to the AARP website, ransomware is a particularly devious type of malicious software, or malware. You can inadvertently download ransomware onto your computer or device by clicking on an online ad or email link, opening an attachment or, in some cases, simply going to a website where it has been planted (a form of attack called a drive-by download).  On a larger scale, scammers target government agencies, health care systems and large corporations, including Colonial Pipeline, the gas carrier that was infamously shut down by cybercrooks for several days in May.

East Mt. Airy twins Carole and Barbara Lindner had a recent experience with this. The Lindner sisters have done many things over the years like singing folk songs once a month with 20 other folk music aficionados in their Mt. Airy living room, or forming a quartet with two other sisters.  What they haven’t done is been scammed – but they came close to it recently and wanted to go public so that others can learn from what could have been a costly mistake. 

It all started out innocently enough says Carole Lindner, who spoke on behalf of the pair.

“We had Norton on there (the computer), but then a screen came up that said we had been tapped by someone overseas and that they’d protect us from these people,” said Lindner, who did not want to disclose her age.  For those not familiar with it, Norton Utilities is a utility suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain a computer.

The pop-up message had a phone number to call for assistance. Fortunately for the twins, a man by the name of Eddy didn’t take a credit card number.  But they did send a check for an undisclosed amount. 

“Eddy was evasive the next morning and I called the bank to put a stop on the check.  I had to cancel my account and get new checks but I was so grateful at that point.  I called Norton and they said ‘why didn’t you call us?’” said Lindner.  “We are college graduates and we are computer literate.  It sounded legitimate, but we were caught.” 

According to an August 29, 2019 article written by Len Lear in this publication, Carole was an elementary school teacher, first at the Howe School in Olney and then at the elite Masterman School in Spring Garden. She got her B.A. at the University of Florida and then a master's degree in education from Columbia University. She eventually became an instructor at Masterman. In 2014 Barbara moved in with Carole, who had already been living in Mt. Airy for many years.

When Barbara moved to Philadelphia she worked for the president of Temple University, where she maintained all budgets and faculty records. While there she took night courses and earned a B.S. degree summa cum laude “after a lot of hard work.”

Their advice for anyone on a computer is to be wary.   

“People are getting things through e-mails to call them.  Don’t.  Never give any information for whatever reason on the phone no matter what they do.  Everyone should get a system like Norton.  I’ve also heard from people who say the e-mails look legitimate because they have the logo.  Logos can be easily scanned and my best advice is to find out from the source itself,” said Lindner. 

Anti-virus software will not require you to call them, but will alert the user the problem has been corrected, or in some cases that there might be service technician required. If you need to call them, check the phone number against what is presented on their website or other documents. Since the services usually bill monthly, account information is already in the software company’s system. Most companies do not charge an extra fee to fix a problem their software was supposed to prevent, anymore than a bank would charge you a fee if someone stole a debit card and withdrew money from your account.

AARP gives the following tips for other warning signs of a computer scam. 

  • You get an email or instant message that looks phishy. Phishing is the most common method hackers use to spread ransomware, so be wary of messages that appear to come from a trusted source, such as a friend, a coworker or your bank, but seem off in some way (for example, the grammar is suspiciously bad or the sender’s address looks wrong).
  • A pop-up on your computer or mobile device warns of viruses, promises a prize or redirects you automatically to another site.
  • An email with a Microsoft Word document attached asks you to “enable macros” or “enable content.” Opening the attachment or following the enable instructions allows the file to download ransomware or other malicious software onto your computer.

For additional information on ransomeware and a host of other scams go to the AARP website at www.AARP.org.   

Barbara Sherf can be reached through her website at www.communicationspro.com.  Len Lear contributed to this article.