WTF? Unauthorized long-distance charges thru the Internet? HELP!

[Arcadiac]

I got sticker shock today when I opened my phone bill: $54 international long-distance charges to South Africa and a UK territory, Tuvalu.  I called my telephone company and they said that all of the calls were legit, came from my phone, probably while I was on-line.  They offered to block international calling and discount the charges 50% but damn that's still over budget for calls, especially ones I didn't make.  It's only me and my adult son here so I know they weren't made intentionally.  Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do to avoid this happening in the future?  I've been using the net for over 10 yrs and had heard that his could happen but never understood how?  What do you guys do to keep secure on the net?  This one really has me concerned, any experienced help would be appreciated.  Thanks, ARCADIAC!

[SOAPboy]

I got sticker shock today when I opened my phone bill: $54 international long-distance charges to South Africa and a UK territory, Tuvalu.

[Pacific Ripper]

I agree.. it seems to be a porn dialer. Better get HijackThis and Ad-Aware running.

[Goz]

Not that I visit porn sites  I've heard a rumor yeah thats it a rumor that you can charge the cost of a porn site back to your phone number and if the site is overseas that it could appear as long distance charges.

-Goz

[Apollo]

I work for a large telco in New Zealand and I deal with people calling up about this every day without fail.
You have a trojan dialler that has down loaded on to your computer. They are hard to find without the right software so you need to run adaware ( there are others ) regularly.
An international toll bar will stop it but of course if you have a trojan dialler on your PC it is probably full of spy ware etc anyway which will slow down your operating speed, hijack your home page etc.
Sounds like you need a general clean up, run adaware and get some decent protection, I use Norton System Works to protect my PC and fix problems when they appear ( registry errors etc ).

[Goz]

You should also look into using more than one spy ware detector / remover.

I use Giant spyware remover, Adaware, and spybot. I recommend doing multiple as not all of the companies provide updates as quickly as they should. 3 is probably overkill, but at least I am spyware free. Also try to use firefox instead of IE, it is less susseptible to popups and infections via malicious sites.

-Goz

[SOAPboy]

You should also look into using more than one spy ware detector / remover.

I use Giant spyware remover, Adaware, and spybot. I recommend doing multiple as not all of the companies provide updates as quickly as they should. 3 is probably overkill, but at least I am spyware free. Also try to use firefox instead of IE, it is less susseptible to popups and infections via malicious sites.

-Goz

Mircosofts new one is brilliant..

finds more than any program and more than most of them combined..

[Goz]

You should also look into using more than one spy ware detector / remover.

I use Giant spyware remover, Adaware, and spybot. I recommend doing multiple as not all of the companies provide updates as quickly as they should. 3 is probably overkill, but at least I am spyware free. Also try to use firefox instead of IE, it is less susseptible to popups and infections via malicious sites.

-Goz

Mircosofts new one is brilliant..

finds more than any program and more than most of them combined..

Yeah Microsoft purchased Giant. It is the coolest by far.

[Gunstar Hero]

Adaware is awesome. I've had some fun with hijackthis too.

[Ixliam]

I just got done repairing my uncles computer for the same reason. They had 106 Trojans (most of them dialers) and 750 pieces of spyware on it. They never updated, firewalled or anything, even when the DELL alert warning on their system came up. Giant Antispyware (now Microsoft) is by far the best. I had some hijacker on my system (no prob since I don't have a landline) that neither Adaware or Spybot would clean out. Giant got rid of it pronto. Personally, I still check my system with all three of them, just to be safe.

Brad

[missioncontrol]

Not that I visit porn sites

[Zakk]

One other possibility is the new mail scam...where it says "you have been selected to win a PS2!"  I guess it ends up dialing a pay site if you enter your info to "collect your prize".

 Just a possibility, I got 4 of those mails lately, and of course typed  "free PS2 scam" into google, and lo and behold.

http://www.keytlaw.com/FTC/Actions/ftc020424.htm

Just FYI for you cheapskate gamers out there

[paigeoliver]

Basically everything on the internet having anything to do with a Playstation 2 or an X-Box is one flavor of a scam or another. The target market for that stuff is the exact same people most likely to commit or fall for a scam.

[Sephroth57]

im gonna have to try Giant, ive been using adaware and i think its the best. but if something is supposedly better than it, it has to be quality cause adaware rocks

[Apollo]

I tried to unstall and run Giant, but it seems to have some incompatabilities with Firefox, anyone got around these?

[DarkKobold]

How are people actually making money off these porn dialers? They are not getting the long distance charges... Is it like a 900 numer or something?

[Ixliam]

I run Firefox and have no trouble with Giant, now known as Microsoft Anti-Spyware. Just go to Microsofts website and download the beta.. Other than having the M$ logo, I notice no difference. Guess they haven't had long enough to screw it up yet.

Brad

[xar256]

Another idea as well...This is more of a 'stop the problem at the source' idea.