Malware Monday Approaches

(IDAHO FALLS, ID)  —   Every Friday morning, Dale Dixon, Idaho’s President of the Better Business Bureau, joins Tim Lewis on IMN to discuss the latest scams that hit East Idaho.   This Monday there  is a BIG problem that could affect your ability to connect to the internet.

Here is Dale’s explanation:    Hundreds of thousands of Internet uses may lose their online access on July 9, 2012, and Better Business Bureau is urging all consumers and businesses to run a quick and easy diagnostic test to see if their computers are infected. The FBI’s DNS Changer Working Group can detect the malware and explain how to fix infected machines.

“Everyone should check to see if their computer is infected,” urged Katherine Hutt, spokesperson for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. “It takes less than a minute to check and, if your equipment is clean, there is nothing more you need to do. If your computer is infected, the DNS Changer Working Group recommends the necessary steps to save your computer. But this must be done by July 9th or you could lose internet access.”

Last November, the FBI took down the servers of international hackers operating out of Estonia. The hackers had already successfully downloaded malware onto more than half a million computers, turning off virus updates and redirecting consumers to fraudulent websites. If the servers had simply been shut down, the victims’ computers would no longer be able to access the internet. Instead, the FBI set up clean servers to replace the ones that were running the scam, and victims have been redirected to those clean servers ever since, usually without any knowledge they’d been infected in the first place.

Originally the rescue servers were to be active until March, but a court ruling extended the program until July 9th. At that time the clean servers will be turned off and anyone who is still infected with the malware will lose their internet access. The FBI believes there are still about 360,000 infected computers in a dozen countries, including the U.S. and Canada.    Check your computer at the following link:     www.dcwg.org

Hear Dale and Tim, HERE:   Dale Dixon July 6

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Your Better Business Bureau is advising the public to be aware of all scams related to the Pocatello Fire. This is a time when our community is especially vulnerable and all of us must be aware of how to stay safe and how to help.

As with most natural disasters, criminals come out of the woodwork to rip off those who are in an especially vulnerable situation.

To avoid making a bad situation worse, your BBB has the following tips:

An additional note of caution: consumers should be the ones to solicit bids from all contractors.

The American Red Cross – does not solicit donations by phone, through door-to-door representatives or via email.

Finally, remember, do not give any money – especially cash – to anyone you do not know, or any business you have not thoroughly researched.