Can a virus attack on your computer cause your credit card company to deny purchases?

[patrice]

The virus very specifically kept demanding my card info in order to "remove the virus". Do our lords-and-masters (cards) establish security watches for such things going on in the internet?

[CK_John]

1. No, Maybe and Yes. Example; when you go to some sites and your computer has a

virus or mal-ware on it, the site may deny you access. Nothing to do with your CC.

Another case would be, if you try and buy something from Newegg or Amazon they may have 2 different systems for collecting payments. Nothing to do with your CC.

Now for the big but... Each system may contact your card provider to authorize the card (not stolen or expired) and the amount (not maxed out).
Hope this helps.

If your computer has problems see link for good info on antimalware software.

Link on DU
<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=242x27120>

[patrice]

2. That is somewhat helpful.

I caught something nasty that the Geek Squad, ultimately, said necessitated required a wipe and re-install of the OS (Windows). They put all of my data on a cd, but I have not re-loaded that yet, so maybe the internet needs some of that stuff.

I HAD Norton 360. This is the second time in a year, total around $700.00 (half of a new computer!!!). I'm switching to Mozilla!

Thanks.

[hobbit709]

3. Geek Squad are incompetent idiots-if not downright crooks.

A friend made the mistake of calling them, since she lives out in the boonies, they charged her $400 for the service call, they removed one virus and sold her another 512Mb of RAM-charged her $50 for that.
Next time she rebooted, the problem not only came back but got worse. I went out there and found major infections going back to before they allegedly cleaned it and the RAM they sold her was defective.
I wrote up a report as to what I found and told her to take it and go to Best Buy and demand her money back. Told her if they gave her any BS to say she was calling her attorney. She got all except $50 of the money back by the time she finished being loud in the store.

Norton works as well as a screen door on a submarine.

Install Malwarebytes Antimalware, Spybot Search and Destroy and AVG or Avast antivirus. Stay away from Internet ExploDer and Outhouse. Use either Firefox and Thunderbird for your email, or SeaMonkey which does both-all of these are put out by Mozilla.

[RoyGBiv]

4. Agreed ...

The Geek Squad are salespeople with some technical knowledge.

To add to the horror stories, a friend of mine took his machine to the Geek Squad, and they told him the problem he was experiencing couldn't be fixed, that he needed a new hard drive. And it just so happens, sir, that we're running a sale on this model right here. It's only $150 for the drive, and we'll install it, restore Windows and all your data for a nominal fee ... about $500 out the door. What a deal.

The only thing wrong with the damn thing was that the boot sector was corrupted by a power outage. Luckily I was visiting him as he was debating whether to pay this, and I fixed the issue in five minutes. I also got rid of all the crap he'd allowed Geek Squad to sell him before, e.g. Norton and a ton of other garbage. He's had no problems on that machine since, three years later.

[patrice]

5. Thanks for the information. This is the second bad attack I have had in a year.

I have been uncertain about Geek Squad ever since I found them charging about $200 for some component that I went to the local computer parts source and found for less than $100.

And I ought to ask Symantec for a refund.

[truedelphi]

7. Here's a question - if you needed a clean wipe and sweep

But first you did your back up, how much of a possibility is there that you now have a virus or somthing on that CD?

And by the way, Norton Utilities is pathetic. I forget the name of the computer reviewer for the Chicago Tribune, but he used to go off on them all the time. The only thing they are good for is getting your money.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

6. MalwareBytes AntiMalware...

A most comprehensive list of Freeware Replacements For Common Commercial Apps can be found here: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic3616.html Their forums, tutorials, and info database are top notch!


Some terrific Free Malware Removal Tools from their list:

a² Free - a complementary product to antivirus software which is specialized in protection against harmful software. AV software often features an inadequate protection against Trojans, Dialers and Spyware

Ad-Aware -

Dr.Web CureIt! - curing utility to clean your computer infected with viruses and various unwanted codes

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32 and 64-bit)

Spybot - Search & Destroy - Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/XP AMD64/XPTablet PC Edition/2003/Vista/PE/ Mac OS/Mac OS X/Linux/Unix (Starting in Wine; full Wine support in 1.5) -

Spywareblaster

Spywareguard

SuperAntiSpyware

Also check out these sites:

http://www.geekstogo.com/
http://www.theeldergeek.com/