Smart House Solutions - are they legit/safe?

[Undecided84]

They just called me back but I didn't answer.

As said, the worse case scenario is that they now have all your personal data that was ever stored on your computer. What you need to now is what has already been suggested, backup your important data to an external media. Completely wipe your HDD, i'd even overwrite it a couple of times with zeros or random data. You can use a utility like DBAN to do that. After that reinstall windows and your programs on the computer, install a decent anti-virus and scan your data before putting it back.

If you have access to another computer that you know is safe, change all your passwords, e-mail, online banking etc. ASAP.

By the way, assume the worse case scenario, better be safe than sorry.

Would completely rebooting my laptop be enough?

[baiii]

First thing first, unplug your LAN and turn off your wireless .Stay away from internet on that laptop.

Then you start trying to fix the laptop.

Also contact FTC if they continue to call you.

If you are real worry, may also contact the ISP and ask for a new IP, reset your router etc.

[Convel]

Would completely rebooting my laptop be enough?

Reboot? As in turn off and turn back on? Or are you talking about system recovery? In either case, no. Make sure you're offline, backup your data, completely wipe your HDD(s) and finally do a fresh install of Windows. Make sure to also scan what you backed up and change your passwords as soon as possible.

[__-_-_-__]

They just called me back but I didn't answer.



Would completely rebooting my laptop be enough?

I would try to track them down. It's great that they called you back. You can catch those s. IMO GO RIGHT NOW to the police. Say that they are trying to steal your identity. phones can be tracked if they really want to investigate.

reboot? no. not at all... it will be the same when you turn it on. Actually if the virus is good enough it can even turn the pc on if it's on standby.
reboot will solve absolutely nothing.

[baiii]

Police don't care in general. But YMMV.

[Undecided84]

I would try to track them down. It's great that they called you back. You can catch those s. IMO GO RIGHT NOW to the police. Say that they are trying to steal your identity. phones can be tracked if they really want to investigate.

reboot? no. not at all... it will be the same when you turn it on. Actually if the virus is good enough it can even turn the pc on if it's on standby.
reboot will solve absolutely nothing.

I mean do a complete system restore. Wipe out everything. Would that work?

Would you guys really recommend changing my IP? Contacting the police seems a little extreme.

[spacecowboy]

I mean do a complete system restore. Wipe out everything. Would that work?

Would you guys really recommend changing my IP? Contacting the police seems a little extreme.

I would contact them to be on the safe side, tell them everything that happened. It's not extreme, it's a company, that by the sounds of it, have accessed your computer, possibly or probably put some rogue software on your computer which will probably compromise your system. They have also asked you for CC details also and have got fairly aggressive. It's a scam.

Put it this way, would you let an unknown person from some rogue company into your house and rifle through all of your possessions, put cameras in your house to spy on everything you do, then give them your CC details for the benefit? I'm guessing the answer would be no, and you would maybe call the police.

This is a scam of the highest order and it seems like you've fallen for it!!

Also, If I were you, I would do a complete fresh install to rid the system of any junk they've installed ASAP!!

[__-_-_-__]

I mean do a complete system restore. Wipe out everything. Would that work?

Would you guys really recommend changing my IP? Contacting the police seems a little extreme.

well... they are contacting you by telephone in order to get something from you. it doesn't seam extreme to me. what if someone broke into your house to check your personal belongings? would that be extreme? because they broke into your pc and stole personal information.

anyway it depends on what you mean by system restore.
you have to fully wipe out everything (make sure you really erase) and install the OS from scratch. that will work in 99% of the cases.

[Undecided84]

I can usually go to the store and get a complete system restore. That kind of thing.

If I tell police what happened, what do you think they are going to do? Should I just call 911?

[__-_-_-__]

I can usually go to the store and get a complete system restore. That kind of thing.

If I tell police what happened, what do you think they are going to do? Should I just call 911?

911 no. that's only for emergencies. you are not in a life threatening situation. Also I'm not familiar with USA police system. You should seek advice with someone familiar with USA law.

If you go to a store to do a system restore probably they'll just restore the system to a previous configuration. That won't work. you have to make absolutely sure that the data is erased. Like it was suggested, zeroing is a good method. then install OS from scratch.