What advice for friend bitten by windows scam

[Emegra]

Hi guys

A friend of mine just called me almost in tears, she had a call from the microsoft windows help & security (yeah I know ), who was able to tell her her laptop had errors and they would fix them, anyway she granted them full remote access to her laptop, and they apparently got her to type in her email address, they also have her ip address etc etc

She asked me what she should do, but to be honest I don't feel qualified to offer advice in this situation, but I told her to switch the laptop off  and leave it off until we decide on the best course of action, I also told her to contact her isp provider (BT) for their advice.

My own thought's are to wipe the hard drive completely because I have no idea what they've done or can do, on the other hand I don't want to over-react. The problem is she doesn't have a windows 7 installation disc and neither do I, although I do have a windows xp disc, but what I'm getting at here is would it be wise to offer her a Linux Distro and if so what distro would be best to suggest, bearing in mind she lives too far away for me to install it for her and she isn't a particularly computer literate person, I was thinking ubuntu providing her laptop has the spec (which I'm sure it does) ,

Anyway i would appreciate any help on what I should advice her do.


Many thanks



Graeme

[SeZo]

Anyway i would appreciate any help on what I should advice her do.

I would be more concerned with what they were able to take away, than what they have left behind.
Would suggest her to contact her bank, credit card(s) etc. Credentials worth loads of cash.

[Emegra]

I would be more concerned with what they were able to take away, than what they have left behind.
Would suggest her to contact her bank, credit card(s) etc. Credentials worth loads of cash.

Yeah you're right, didn't think of that, she called me at work ,  I was busy and it was right out of the blue, I did tell het to contact her ISP so hopefully they'll give her more thorough advice than I can

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I'm with SeZo .. if her bank (or any personal) details were anywhere on the PC, she NEEDS to contact her bank IMMEDIATELY.

She also needs to change her email password PRONTO .. but not from that PC

And passwords to any other online accounts.


Then she either needs to take her PC to someone that can check there are no nasties on it, or as you suggest wipe and reinstall

Until then .. make sure she doesn't switch it on whilst it's connected to the network/internet.

As for Linux .. hmm .. she'd definitely have been better off with it, but whether you can convert her is another matter.

Peppermint .. but then did you expect me to say anything else

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Is it a laptop ?

if so it may have a recovery partition.

What's the make/model ?

[Emegra]

Is it a laptop ?

Yes I know it's an Acer but not sure what model but I can find out

if so it may have a recovery partition.

I think that's unlikely because this laptop was originally shipped with Win XP and an ex friend (son on law)  installed Win 7 , almost certainly a pirate copy.


EDIT

Peppermint .. but then did you expect me to say anything else

If I didn't know peppermint was an open source non profit project, I'd swear you had shares in it

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

So she has a pirate version of Windows, but thought it a good idea to let (who she thought was) Microsoft on her PC ?

Not to mention .. why would microsoft "fix" a pirate copy ?

--

[Emegra]

So she has a pirate version of Windows, but thought it a good idea to let (who she thought was) Microsoft on her PC ?

I know what you're saying Mark but she probably wouldn't know what a pirate copy means or what it is, as I remember it was installed on the laptop without asking her

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

Ahh.

[Emegra]

Ahh.

Not sure what that means

[Emegra]

I know most on here will think she deserves all gets and maybe she does, but I don't think she is particularly untypical of many windows users, who don't know what an operating system is or even care so long as they can log into their Facebook account, but that doesn't make them bad people, just misinformed (which is exactly the way Microsoft like it), but I don't think she deserves to be scammed.

So my problem now is , What advice should I give her, the advice I want to give her is wipe the hard drive completely and install Linux after all I cannot condone installing a pirate copy of windows whether it be XP or 7, so my question to this forum is

(1) Would a Linux distro be a viable proposition for someone who doesn't know an operating system from an office suit

(2) if so so what  distro would be best suited

(3) purchase a legitimate copy of Windows and find someone to install it for her

Many thanks


Graeme

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

As in "Ahh .. I see"

[Emegra]

As in "Ahh .. I see"

[SeZo]

Whatever choice she makes will involve somebody with more knowledge in IT matters than she has.
Regardless which way she turns she will probably want to rescue some of her data, before wiping the OS.
Once that was dealt with then somebody will haveto talk her through installing the OS (may be it Windows or Linux)

I personally think this would be not the time to introduce her to Linux as she would have to come to that decision hersef (not to be forced into)
Guess what I am saying is that she should be ready to embrace the change otherwise would just resent it.
I do not condole piracy so a new licece for Windows would be in order.

Should she be intersted in Linux then I would recomend Linux Mint 14 Mate or Cinnamon

[Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec)]

I agree .. pushing someone towards Linux is rarely successful, and inevitably becomes seen as wasted time before reinstalling Windows.

That said, there's no harm in explaining the options.