O/T Facebook Viruses - Page 1

I don't know if this particular warning has been posted, so I will post it anyway.
I have been receiving several messages from one of my long time friends...saying things like "Hey I heard this is you dancing in this video" or "Is this really YOU in this picture?"
But in the "to" list, it has me as well as about 10 other people so I called her and sure enough she did not send me any of it. In fact her brother had opened one of the links and ended up having to buy a new computer.
Be careful what you open
have a great day
Stacy

Never open those things!!! I had some of those things sent to me but i know my friends wouldn't have sent them.So I asked them first and they said that they never sent it. If I don't recognise it or there is some strange looking link to it I deleat right away.I figure my friends will let me know if I didn't respond to something they sent.
~L~

Any person that is on the internet and does not have and use anti-virus protection is a fool. That being said, even opening a virus laden file cannot damage the computer to the extent that one must buy a new computer, for example, it cannot fry your HD as some scam emails will suggest. But it can cause havoc and if someone does not know how to fix it, it can be very troublesome. 

This is a no-brainer.......meaning that if one doesn't have anti-virus software working and updating, one has no brain.

Yesterday, I had a bunch of "friend" requests in my inbox from people who are already friends on Facebook.  So, instead of clicking the links, I went to Facebook.  Then, I realized that is NOT the email account that I have associated with Facebook!  There is a second Facebook account that I did not create and it is associated with my main email account!  I tried to contact Facebook and, of course, near impossible.  I'm getting ready to close my account and be done with it.

I use anti virus programs, but still worry that these people with nothing better to do will find a way around them :-/
GSDTravels... THAT is very weird. I closed my account for awhile and it stayed open until I wrote Facebook and had them delete it.
Stacy

well, mine got hacked and some disgusting stuff sent out to people on my contact list.  yes, i have antivirus protection.  hopefully, all is straightened out now, but had to change my password.
pjp

Just a couple of days ago this happend to my gf.She does have anti virus and it still attacked her computer.She is still working on it still because still not running right.
Steve

FYI

If you are running a Microsoft operating system, the Microsoft site is now offering "Security Essentials" for free. They also offer a free malware program.

According to Leo Laporte (radio show host on computer related topics), Microsoft is actually on the leading edge now, finding the weak spots and back doors in their OS before anyone else does. They publish their updates, and IMMEDIATELY, the hackware authors set about exploiting those same weaknesses.. because they know that a lot of people don't use "automatic updates". So, DO use automatic updates for security, and I would highly recommend that you go to the Microsoft site and download their Security Essentials engine and updates.

I would also recommend that you use an email server like Yahoo, because a lot of this stuff gets filtered out before you get it. In fact, the worst threats come not from emails, in the form of viruses, but from malicious Java scripts which are downloaded when you visit a malicious website or one which has been hacked.

Most threats are downloaded willingly, without thinking. You have to learn how to practice safe computing, so you don't unwittingly comply with a request to download malicious code or disclose personal information. I keep all of my passwords and critical information / files on a small flash drive, which never leaves home and is never left plugged into the computer.

If your computer is hacked or infected, the offending code will almost always be written into your Windows\system32 files, where it will most likely be impossible to remove. Even commercial "cleaning" products will not be able to get rid of or disable it. If this happens to you, the only thing you can do is to back up all your personal files to an external hard drive, and then wipe that hard drive clean (reformat), then reinstall your operating system. This can take a long time, if you're not used to it and don't know what you're doing. Hopefully you will have a copy of your OS cd and all your program CDs and key codes, to reinstall. The first time I had to do this, it took me almost two weeks, up to four hours a day, to get everything back to like-new condition.

If you can see to take the trouble, it's a good idea to find another refurbished computer online.. eBay sells them cheap. You can get another P4 with 2.8 Ghz single processor, OS installed, for under $100, shipped. It's well worth the price. Use one computer for your really important stuff, like banking, and one for the kids and family, for websurfing. Use MS Security Essentials and anti malware and you shouldn't really need anything else, but the biggest security risk is the user's behavior. That is something only you can learn to do.

I have good anti-virus software and have had no other computer issues.  I keep my personal firewall set high.  I did change passwords on both my email and my "real" Facebook accounts, just in case.  And if someone really wants my identity, well, they won't get much, LOL.

By the way, if  you set up a Yahoo account, don't use your real birthdate and birthplace on the profile. Just write the bogus information down or better yet, add it to a "notepad" file, written to your removable flash drive.

Nowadays, anyone who puts their personal information on a server they have no control over is nuts.. I gave blood at a university many years ago.. and they wanted my SSN.. to which I gladly complied. I gave them ALL my information. Later, I learned that all of this data and that of many thousands of other blood donors was on a laptop that got stolen. WTF???!!! Nothing came of it, but it's worrisome.. I don't like losing sleep over stuff like this..