Sammy Posted June 23, 2017 Member ID: 3036 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 32 Topic Count: 219 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 9419 Content Per Day: 1.92 Reputation: 7515 Achievement Points: 62539 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 21 Joined: 11/29/11 Status: Offline Last Seen: March 17 Birthday: 04/26/2008 Device: Windows Posted June 23, 2017 Hi guys, Need some advice. I have a neighbor who is up there in years using win10. I do my best to help her with computer troubles. She likes web surfing and buying stuff from different places. However she is not always careful. Once in awhile her computer gets hit with some kind of malware. I think she also forgets the rule to never open attachments. I remind her to call me first when something strange happens especially if she gets one of those 'call this number' or anything else asking for any kind of personal information. Unfortunately she is a little forgetful and got another one of those again and called them. From what she told me she didnt give out any CC info when they demanded money. So that is good. But she still called and thats bad. So, at this point I am thinking of getting rid of windows and switch her to linux since its more secure against 'call this number' and things like that. I hope. She uses ATT and I also hope they dont prevent using linux for things like email or web browsing. They wont do any phone support but as long as it works. What would be the best distro that is easy to use and require no maintenance so that once its set up properly it will operate like the usual Windows desktop with no problem? I am hoping this would stop these kinds of things to begin with or at least as much as possible. Nothing will beat safe computer practices but I cannot count on that %100. I am also tempted to suggest getting a used basic imac that is ready to go in order to get away from windows if I can find one cheap enough. Whatever era that will still work fine and doesnt take forever to load or run the usual programs. She doesnt have a lot of money to spend. Thx. Awards
YACCster Posted June 23, 2017 Member ID: 20683 Group: ++ COD4 Admin Followers: 138 Topic Count: 312 Topics Per Day: 0.07 Content Count: 3410 Content Per Day: 0.82 Reputation: 4129 Achievement Points: 45837 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 22 Joined: 12/12/13 Status: Offline Last Seen: 1 hour ago Device: iPhone Posted June 23, 2017 Love the iMac idea, but for cost how about a Chromebook? or just use Ubuntu Awards
Slackernet Posted June 23, 2017 Member ID: 23498 Group: ++ Minecraft Admin Followers: 12 Topic Count: 106 Topics Per Day: 0.03 Content Count: 703 Content Per Day: 0.20 Reputation: 232 Achievement Points: 5777 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 1 Joined: 11/12/15 Status: Offline Last Seen: 5 hours ago Device: Linux Posted June 23, 2017 linux mint does work well for new linux users the cinnamon desktop can be setup close to windows, or there is zorin os who offers a windows type desktop but i think its 20 to use that particular one, their free one isn't terrible either https://zorinos.com/ Awards
YACCster Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 20683 Group: ++ COD4 Admin Followers: 138 Topic Count: 312 Topics Per Day: 0.07 Content Count: 3410 Content Per Day: 0.82 Reputation: 4129 Achievement Points: 45837 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 22 Joined: 12/12/13 Status: Offline Last Seen: 1 hour ago Device: iPhone Posted June 24, 2017 oh but do they even need a computer at all? How about a nice iPad for security and capability? Awards
Angelz Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 24295 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 11 Topic Count: 272 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2311 Content Per Day: 0.69 Reputation: 2829 Achievement Points: 20239 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 17 Joined: 03/27/16 Status: Offline Last Seen: January 2, 2021 Posted June 24, 2017 I just purchased a notebook for $479.00: ASUS Notebook X541SA-DB91-CA | 15.6" Intel Pentium N3710, 4GB DDR3 500 GB | Intel HD Graphics DVDRW BT4.0 Win10 I wiped everything windows off it and installed Linux Mint and it does everything a regular computer does except play windows games (which in this instance it is not needed). To save money can't you just install linux on the computer she is using right now?
Sammy Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 3036 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 32 Topic Count: 219 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 9419 Content Per Day: 1.92 Reputation: 7515 Achievement Points: 62539 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 21 Joined: 11/29/11 Status: Offline Last Seen: March 17 Birthday: 04/26/2008 Device: Windows Author Posted June 24, 2017 Yea I can use her existing computer and I will keep those distros in mind in case I need to do it. However in this case it wouldnt have helped because it seems the scam was based on some well known phishing emails telling people that their account pwds were changed and with a fake callback number. Which is what she called. Did the usual scan for malware and viruses and nothing found. ATT itself when I talked to them said no changes were done to the account recently. From what I understand they just try and trick you into thinking something is wrong and demanding money to 'fix it'. Or a 'billing address' to send a bill to. Thankfully when the part about money came up she knew it was a fraud and didnt do that. But hopefully it will sink in more that when unexpected emails like that come in to do nothing and call me first. Unfortunately she once in awhile does some things online that is unsafe and its hard to get her to adopt safe practices. Try to remind her the rule that if they dont need to know who you are then dont tell them. Awards
Barron Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 20987 Group: +++ Insurgency Head Admin Followers: 21 Topic Count: 191 Topics Per Day: 0.05 Content Count: 1799 Content Per Day: 0.44 Reputation: 1788 Achievement Points: 14358 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 03/21/14 Status: Offline Last Seen: Monday at 02:55 PM Birthday: 01/09/1996 Device: Windows Posted June 24, 2017 On 6/23/2017 at 8:04 PM, Sammy said: Hi guys, Need some advice. I have a neighbor who is up there in years using win10. I do my best to help her with computer troubles. She likes web surfing and buying stuff from different places. However she is not always careful. Once in awhile her computer gets hit with some kind of malware. I think she also forgets the rule to never open attachments. I remind her to call me first when something strange happens especially if she gets one of those 'call this number' or anything else asking for any kind of personal information. Unfortunately she is a little forgetful and got another one of those again and called them. From what she told me she didnt give out any CC info when they demanded money. So that is good. But she still called and thats bad. So, at this point I am thinking of getting rid of windows and switch her to linux since its more secure against 'call this number' and things like that. I hope. She uses ATT and I also hope they dont prevent using linux for things like email or web browsing. They wont do any phone support but as long as it works. What would be the best distro that is easy to use and require no maintenance so that once its set up properly it will operate like the usual Windows desktop with no problem? I am hoping this would stop these kinds of things to begin with or at least as much as possible. Nothing will beat safe computer practices but I cannot count on that %100. I am also tempted to suggest getting a used basic imac that is ready to go in order to get away from windows if I can find one cheap enough. Whatever era that will still work fine and doesnt take forever to load or run the usual programs. She doesnt have a lot of money to spend. Thx. Well if she doesn't know that much regarding windows than I would recommend her to downgrade to windows 7 at least. Linux is complicated for people who just browse the web in the long term. There is very little support online for linux issues compared to windows. If you ran into a problem on your PC on windows you just google it and more than likely someone else had the same issue and found the solution. With linux there is more than likely code involved in a fix. Linux Mint is the closest distro to Window...but would I recommend to to someone who browses the web and runs into problems then No. I would say go for Windows 7 at least for the simplicity Awards
RobMc Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 25355 Group: ** Registered Users Followers: 31 Topic Count: 272 Topics Per Day: 0.09 Content Count: 5824 Content Per Day: 1.90 Reputation: 9236 Achievement Points: 63677 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 141 Joined: 12/14/16 Status: Offline Last Seen: April 14 Birthday: 01/05/1954 Device: Windows Posted June 24, 2017 (edited) Although I'm by no means a computer expert I've worked at home and at work with Linux, Mac (whichever current) and windows, I've also dabbled with other systems at home, there is no doubt in my mind that for the average user windows wins hands down, merely for the available backup, and relative simplicity in setting up and communicating with others. I agree with Barron 3000 that by far the best (i.e. user friendly) is windows 7, although even there it is overly complex, you would be called out even more than you are now Sammy with Linux. May I recommend you install on her computer and show her how to use (and update) two good free programmes for spyware/malware , superantispyware free edition and spywareblaster, I've used them for years with great results, she does have a virus checker too I presume, I'm scared to comment as you're more of an expert than I am Sammy. Edited June 24, 2017 by RobMc
Angelz Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 24295 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 11 Topic Count: 272 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2311 Content Per Day: 0.69 Reputation: 2829 Achievement Points: 20239 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 17 Joined: 03/27/16 Status: Offline Last Seen: January 2, 2021 Posted June 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Sammy said: Unfortunately she once in awhile does some things online that is unsafe and its hard to get her to adopt safe practices. Try to remind her the rule that if they don't need to know who you are then don't tell them. A suggestion to try out would be to maybe do parental controls on her computer. That may stop a lot of the unsafe practices she is doing.
Angelz Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 24295 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 11 Topic Count: 272 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2311 Content Per Day: 0.69 Reputation: 2829 Achievement Points: 20239 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 17 Joined: 03/27/16 Status: Offline Last Seen: January 2, 2021 Posted June 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Barron3000 said: I would say go for Windows 7 at least for the simplicity I agree!!
Angelz Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 24295 Group: **- Inactive Registered Users Followers: 11 Topic Count: 272 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2311 Content Per Day: 0.69 Reputation: 2829 Achievement Points: 20239 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 17 Joined: 03/27/16 Status: Offline Last Seen: January 2, 2021 Posted June 24, 2017 How old is this woman? Is she using firefox? Does she have Adblock Plus installed through firefox?
Sammy Posted June 24, 2017 Member ID: 3036 Group: ***- Inactive Clan Members Followers: 32 Topic Count: 219 Topics Per Day: 0.04 Content Count: 9419 Content Per Day: 1.92 Reputation: 7515 Achievement Points: 62539 Solved Content: 0 Days Won: 21 Joined: 11/29/11 Status: Offline Last Seen: March 17 Birthday: 04/26/2008 Device: Windows Author Posted June 24, 2017 In this case she was possibly taken in by a phishing scam claiming to be tech support with the usual foreign accents. There was also an 'invoice' text file on the desktop with her address on it. No idea how they got her address nor how they got the file on her computer. She did buy a couple things on ebay recently from sellers with little history. Maybe they are part of it. Changed a bunch of passwords and going to continue scanning to look for any new malware that hasnt been found yet. Right now she has avast and anti-malwarebytes. Also got another invoice email from them with a link to click to see it. Advised her to ignore it and hopefully it wont go any further other than emails. Awards
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