Topic: Computer ruined by virus

[Yorkshire Lass]

We've had a terrible and very expensive week. A Paypal scam has resulted in a virus getting into our  computer and completely ruined it. Didn't open any attachments but someone sent a message  saying they'd put £50 in our Paypal account by mistake and would we return it. We just ignored it and tried to contact Paypal. They were b.....y useless. A week later the computer goes down and we  coudn't get anything. Called in the computer person we deal with to be told  we've lost everything.
So we've now got a newish computer and are back on line.  We're no experts in this technology and don't fully understand  but why do people do these things - is it just malice?

[Jayb]

Nightmare, sorry to hear your news. Do you have to change all your pass words and things?

[BarriedaleNick]

It is rare these days for a virus to "wreck" a PC as there is nothing in it for the creators.  Of course there are still viruses that can stop a PC from booting but you are not likely to get that from a PayPal scam.  Most mails of that sort are really after your details or to drop some malware on your PC which will allow them to control it.  Mostly it is about money but the purely malicious ones do exist - they are normally created for "fun" by teenagers/idiots - they are much less common now.

Are you sure that a virus killed your PC - it is something I haven't seen in years and I run a load of PCs.  Sounds more like a coincidence to me - we often get loads of Paypal emails which manage to get through our spam filter but it doesn't mean the PCs are affected unless you open the link or enter your details.

PCs die much more often than a virus kills them - that's why back is so important!!

Even if it stopped your PC from booting it should be perfectly possible to rescue your files from your old hard drive.

[galina]

Sorry to hear about your computer problems.  I had a similar experience with Paypal, ended up with my account being blocked for a couple of weeks in case I had been cheating the other party.  I wondered whether it was a scam of some sort.  Paypal were not helpful either. 

But at least it did not have the same effect as yours.  So sorry your computer got badly infected.  We are running the free Avast Antivirus programme and, touch wood, that seems to have kept us safe so far.  There are other free, good antivirus programs you may think about loading when your machine comes back.

[mentallot]

I agree with BarriedaleNick - actually toasting your computer to the point it can't be fixed is very rare these days. If you still have the chassis, download a copy of linux on your new box (Ubuntu seems to be favourite at the moment although not my cup of tea), burn to a dvd and try booting from this (you may need to change bios settings)

Worst case - its cost you a dvd
Best case - you have a second computer running linux rather than plague infested Windows

Good luck