3 replies to this topic

[bigfish]

I recently had yet another "exciting" encounter with some spyware/adware. I was checking e-mail one day and going through the usual deleting of spam routine when one e-mail caught my attention. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the e-mail or better yet spam from hell stated nor why I was stupid enough to open it. Anyways, that's what I did and then the fun began. First, it took me at least 15 minutes just to close down all the web pages. After which I got back on the net and found that my homepage was different and that there were several new entries in my favorites folder. The new homepage was - and just so we are clear-DO NOT PULL THIS SITE UP, EVER! - mypoiskovik.com - Apparently, it's a really big search engine for just about anything from free stuff to porn. The page never fully loaded after 10 minutes and forget about closing it down quickly. A whole string of other "wonderful" sites accompany it. As far as the other sites that put themselves into my favorites folder; they were mostly about free web cams or spycams. This is what I assumed, there was no way I was going to open them.
This is where the real fun began. No matter what I did I couldn't change the homepage nor delete the bookmarks. Even after several attempts from Spybot combined with Ad-aware - fully updated by the way- and continuous scanning and restarting; there was no change. I eventually ended up calling a friend of mine in the tech field who is an expert on this sort of problem. Fortunately, he was able to take and clean my computer at his workplace. Apparently, all is well now, no more unwanted search engines as a homepage or bookmarks.
I hope no one reading this has ever experienced this problem; and if you have, I know what you went through. If not by all means! stay away from mypoiskovik.com!!!

Happy surfing!

[vultura]

Seems to be quite prevalent right now....

http://forums.tomcoy...ite=mypoiskovik

[bigfish]

Seems to be quite prevalent right now....

http://forums.tomcoy...ite=mypoiskovik

I didn't know that this was such a common problem. I certainly do understand the position those affected are in.

[Angoid]

Glad you got your computer fixed.

Sadly, this is increasingly becoming a bigger and bigger problem on almost a daily basis. That's what these forums are here for - to offer a lifeline to those whose computers have been compromised and hijacked by such evil sites. Just a casual glance both here and elsewhere reveals people saying, "Help! My computer has been hijacked! Can someone help me fix it?!"

For an example of how hideous this is getting, take a look at The CoolWebSearch Chronicles.

Vultura, I think that hijacking you linked to has been moved ... would it be possible to find it and post another link? I get a "Sorry, but we did not find any matches to display" error I'm curious to see it!

Edited by Angoid, 29 May 2004 - 12:50 PM.