OT but not sure what search terms to use.

  • Thread starter Thread starter miskairal
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miskairal

Hi all,

I've tried searching for info about this but I'm not getting anywhere
fast (or even slowly) so thought I'd ask here for some search word ideas
or answers.

Years ago I heard that somehow whilst connected to the internet via your
ISP your dialup can be redirected through something or other and you can
end up with an enormous phone bill. I had my phone company (who agreed
that this is possible) block it so that I can't make international calls
as I don't need to anwyay.

My Mum, whom I forgot to get to block the international calls, recently
got a phone bill with 2 fax calls to Iran on it (we're in Australia).
They were only for small amounts but she was concerned and rang her
phone company. They have put a block on international calls for her but
had no idea how it happened. My Mum claims there was never anything she
clicked on whilst surfing that could have caused this and she doesn't
have a fax machine let alone any desire to fax Iran. The fax number is
very similar to the ISP didalup number but about twice as long.

Any thoughts, info, ideas, search words etc will be greatly appreciated.
Cheerio
miskairal
 
miskairal said:
Hi all,

I've tried searching for info about this but I'm not getting anywhere
fast (or even slowly) so thought I'd ask here for some search word
ideas or answers.
Click to expand...

"Rogue Dialler" is what you want.........
 
porn dialers.

You disconnect from ISP and reconnect via their dialer program or a reprogrammed windows dialer. It has good uses too. St George uses this for electronic payrolls (well 5 years ago they did).

XP can fax on it's own. Type fax in Help.
 
You may have spyware. This term includes a number of types of threat one of
which is a rogue dialler which changes the number dialled. Typically this
is to a premium rate service from which the perpetrator receives a
proportion of the charge for the call.

You should seriously consider making sure your security wall is as good as
possible (and even this can only significantly reduce exposure to threats
but never entirely eradicate it).

1 Install AntiSpyware software and check (weekly) to make sure that it is
up-to-date.
2 Install AntiVirus software and check (weekly) to make sure that it is
up-to-date.
3 Check (weekly) for updates to your operating system (www.microsoft.com)
4 Scan (weekly) for Spyware
5 Scan (weekly) for viruses

Sure updates and scans can be automated but I would rather do it myself (at
a time convenient to me) and know the jobs are done.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
Thanks Gordon, David and Bill.

Bill - I keep my own pc clean but Mum is 70 and lives 2 hours drive away
and my father is not talking to me right now so it makes it difficult. I
know her antivirus is all up to date and she has Spybot installed and
the XP updates are working but that's as far as I got when I gave her
the pc for Xmas. Getting info out of a 70 year old is much the same as
trying to get it out of a 15 year old :)

David - thanks for the reminder about XP's fax, I totally forgot about
it. Wouldn't you notice the redialling and/or the modem noise. I have
taught Mum to watch the internet activity icon.

Gordon - Yay, I have some decent hits with that search term. Ta muchly.
 
Normally you would which is why I don't think you have a dialer installed. One has to disconnect then reconnect, usually requiring user action. It is usually done for Porn and at the users wish. The users know if they read what is said. My mum once had a hard drive filled with porn dialers.

But there are settings too dial without confirmation, to turn modem noise off, etc that may make it hard to tell.

Note this was used by nasty programs too. Porn dialers reley on people not reading or reading and not caring in the heat of the moment. They tended to be legit programs installed with users permission and all they did was what they said they would (ring Nauru or somewhere).

It would need to start with 0011 to get an international line.
 
I should have included in my previous list the need to make sure the
firewall is on and configured properly.

It may have been up-to-date last Christmas but computer threats are changing
continuously and some would argue that in a business setting it is necessary
to update continuously. Indeed I have often heard the excuse "I don't use
it much so there's no chance of anything going wrong". This is based on
wishful thinking and hope. You are vulnerable from the instant you connect
to the internet. Indeed the cost (time, stress and financial) of a threat
may be greater for a private user than a business.

It is understandable that your Mum may not (want to) know about or the
significance of threat prevention. The best you could possibly do for her
is to make sure all the preventative measures are set up and working,
explain that this may slow down the computer a little and check it from
time-to-time.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
David said:
Normally you would which is why I don't think you have a dialer installed. One has to disconnect then reconnect, usually requiring user action. It is usually done for Porn and at the users wish. The users know if they read what is said. My mum once had a hard drive filled with porn dialers.

But there are settings too dial without confirmation, to turn modem noise off, etc that may make it hard to tell.

Note this was used by nasty programs too. Porn dialers reley on people not reading or reading and not caring in the heat of the moment. They tended to be legit programs installed with users permission and all they did was what they said they would (ring Nauru or somewhere).

It would need to start with 0011 to get an international line.
Click to expand...

Well I'm really hoping my Mum is not visiting porn sites ;) (Oh what
will become of our mothers!)
I really doubt she would have clicked on something and accidentally
installed it as she drives me to distraction waiting for her to read
everything she ever clicks on. I'm not sure how you get an international
line here but the fax number is 00199883331111111 and her dialup number
is 0198331111. It all seems different to the rogue dialers I've just
been reading up about because Mum's 2 calls appeared as the 28th
December and the 12th January only and the info I'm reading indicates
that the dialers change the dialup number permanently - have I got that
wrong? Mum did say that she used to occasionally get disconnected but
she didn't bother reconnecting right away - that was on her old pc
though which predates the phone bill.

I'm not worried so much about Mum now (with international calls blocked)
as warning other friends and family.

Thanks again David.
 
XP's firewall is on and working too but I didn't bother installing any
other firewall. I didn't make myself clear when I implied the pc was up
to date at christmas, sorry. I know it is up to date now because Mum
tells me when "the American" (Avast) man speaks to her or she got an XP
yellow shield and it was updating and she's written down to do the
spybot stuff each week. I would have liked to install a couple more
spyware programmes.

I'm assuming that you are in America but here in Oz the kids are taught
nothing at all about personal computer security at school. They all
think they know everything about computers b/c they can use word and
Excell and log into MSN and type fast. I really think that each school
should have one stand alone pc with no protection so they can show the
kids what can happen.

Mum wants to know about it all but it's just too hard for her. WindowsXP
is definitely a whole lot easier for her though.

Thanks for your help and advice.
 
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