Sneaky, nasty PC virius...SOS!

June 1, 2009 9:59 AM

So for the first time in...well, ever. I let my pc get infected. The virus is calling itself 'Internet Antivirus Pro'....and this is how it happened...

A facebook friend sent me and several others a video clip 'he found'.
This is NOT the friends fault, his account was hacked or whatever. He sent a warning out minuites later. Meanwhile, I was updating some programs. 'His' video said it needed a newer version of Adobe Flash to play...I blithely clicked on update. Nothing seemed to happen, so I went to the Adobe site and my PC was up to date.
Then I closed that window and saw a big malware warining page. It was too late. I had clicked on 'update Adobe' in the video screen. (this was all 'inside' facebook.)
So now this thing is taking over my computer, with bogus warnings (Internet Antivirus Pro has detected 37dangerous viruses, your computer is in immediate danger. Click here to unlock key!) and pop-unders and 'auto'-updates and crap. I tried to uninstall, and it did vanish from my programs, but OBVIOUSLY not from my machine.
What to do?
I have never, ever had this happen before, as usually I am obsessively ultra-cautios. But there it is.
Please, what are my options?
Dell inspiron 1720, Vista, Chrome...

posted by dawson to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Try Malware Bytes anti-malware.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:05 AM on June 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

I would start with not doing any more websurfing, and may even disconnecting from any internet connections you have lest it's a program sophisticated enough to download additional viruses or take over your bandwidth.

Then run whatever software you have for security -- any antivirus software, and if you have any other malware programs, run those too. If you don't have any of these installed, there are several options: "Windows Live OneCare" through the Windows website claims to do a virus and malware scan. "Malware Bytes" is a relatively new and solid anti-malware program. If you have any apps on your computer though, start with those, run full (not quick) scans, and go from there.
posted by davidnc at 10:05 AM on June 1

You need to go to this website and download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. It is, without a doubt, the best free tool currently available to get rid of this kind of crap.

If you don't believe me, look at the countless AskMe threads that have been posted on this topic. Nearly every single one ends with floods of people recommending this program.
posted by kbanas at 10:06 AM on June 1

Yep. Malware Bytes. I came here with a similar problem maybe a year ago and that's what was recommended. It works really well. Get thee to Malware Bytes.
posted by cooker girl at 10:16 AM on June 1

am doing as suggested, and the Malware Bytes program is now running a full scan...
nothing more to 'report' yet.
thanks so far!
posted by dawson at 10:24 AM on June 1

Don't feel too bad. This particular breed of malware is pretty sophisticated in combining technological and social attacks. It's pretty widespread as a result. Malware Bytes is your best bet. I would let it finish, reboot, scan again, and then check hyper-regularly for a few days or weeks. This is persistent stuff.
posted by dhartung at 12:07 PM on June 1

thanks Dan, it's been running for over two hours now and is just outta my itunes file...my fear is/was that it wouldn't work and then this question would be buried 10 hours later...and me outta questions till a whole nother 7 days...
so thanks, puts my mind at ease a bit....

anyone...what is this actually called, this impostor virus/malware?
posted by dawson at 12:27 PM on June 1

Click on my name to go to my profile and see my cleaning instructions there. MalwareBytes is awesome, but I like a many pronged attack, and the instructions I have in there from my friend Kevin really nail anything that you find to the wall.
posted by deezil at 4:09 PM on June 1 [6 favorites has favorites]

wow, deezil...awesome, I'm still running the 2nd scan with Malware Bytes and it seems to have nipped it on round one, but I'll try and go thru that more detailed set of instructions tonight. thanks man.
posted by dawson at 4:23 PM on June 1