It turns out that A friend of mine on facebook has been hacked. He sent be a link to watch, which I thought nothing of at the time and clicked on. The link asked me for my log-in details, which I also thought nothing of as I have never heard of this happening before. Has this happened to anyone else? Did it affect their macbook? and what should I do to protect my files and data etc? Please Help pretty freaked!
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
These are phishing scams. You should not click on any links or dial any phone numbers. It happens to millions of people every day. It's called adware. You friend warned you and you ignored the warning. Why?
Helpful Links Regarding Malware Problems
If you are having an immediate problem with ads popping up see The Safe Mac » Adware Removal Guide, remove adware that displays pop-up ads and graphics on your Mac, and AdwareMedic. If you require anti-virus protection Thomas Reed recommends using ClamXAV. (Thank you to Thomas Reed for this recommendation.) You might consider adding this Safari extensions: Adblock Plus 1.8.9.
Open Safari, select Preferences from the Safari menu. Click on Extensions icon in the toolbar. Disable all Extensions. If this stops your problem, then re-enable them one by one until the problem returns. Now remove that extension as it is causing the problem.
The following comes from user stevejobsfan0123. I have made minor changes to adapt to this presentation.
Fix Some Browser Pop-ups That Take Over Safari.
Common pop-ups include a message saying the government has seized your computer and you must pay to have it released (often called "Moneypak"), or a phony message saying that your computer has been infected, and you need to call a tech support number (sometimes claiming to be Apple) to get it resolved. First, understand that these pop-ups are not caused by a virus and your computer has not been affected. This "hijack" is limited to your web browser. Also understand that these messages are scams, so do not pay any money, call the listed number, or provide any personal information. This article will outline the solution to dismiss the pop-up.
Quit Safari
Usually, these pop-ups will not go away by either clicking "OK" or "Cancel." Furthermore, several menus in the menu bar may become disabled and show in gray, including the option to quit Safari. You will likely have to force quit Safari. To do this, press Command + option + esc, select Safari, and press Force Quit.
Relaunch Safari
If you relaunch Safari, the page will reopen. To prevent this from happening, hold down the 'Shift' key while opening Safari. This will prevent windows from the last time Safari was running from reopening.
This will not work in all cases. The shift key must be held at the right time, and in some cases, even if done correctly, the window reappears. In these circumstances, after force quitting Safari, turn off Wi-Fi or disconnect Ethernet, depending on how you connect to the Internet. Then relaunch Safari normally. It will try to reload the malicious webpage, but without a connection, it won't be able to. Navigate away from that page by entering a different URL, i.e. www.apple.com, and trying to load it. Now you can reconnect to the Internet, and the page you entered will appear rather than the malicious one.
Just to clarify, as I think you misunderstood/my writing was unclear. I did not know my friend had been hacked when I clicked on the link. It was only afterward (a couple of hours) that he sent out a mass message saying that the post containing the link, which appeared under his name was in fact not him but a hacker. I wouldn't click on a link if I knew it was a hacker, because that would be idiotic - I agree! I have also never heard of this happening on facebook before (perhaps I'm a bit out of touch) The message was just like a normal message from my friend asking me to look at a funny clip he had found, there was no indication that it had been written on my timeline by anyone other than him.
Thank you very much for the helpful tips above!
I did misunderstand, and apologize for that. In my opinion it's a good idea to avoid FaceBook and other social media sites because they tend to be a breeding ground for this type of problem as well as finding a supply of unwary suckers. Good luck!
It would not have affected your MBA, but it does sound like your log-in credentials have been compromised. Change that password as well as any other accounts where you use that same password.
Facebook Virus?
