error 333--is this legit?

Question

Level 1

4 points

error 333--is this legit?

IN Safari I got a system alert telling me to call 866-316-6701. It says not to shut down or restart my computer and that data loss and failure of the operating system may result if I do. It says "non bootable situation may result in complete data loss". When I click OK, nothing happens. I'm scared to click cancel. I'm not sure if this is real or some kind of scam. I tried asking on this forum, but the same person gave me two different answers with no explanation. (To be fair I think I was posting in the wrong forum). Is this a real help number? Should I call it? I'm writing on my ipad because the computer is scaring me. Not sure what I should do.

iMac, iOS 8.4, Imac

Posted on Jul 10, 2015 10:10 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 11, 2015 7:11 PM in response to willaapple

I got this on the same day. And, I actually called the number. 866-316-6701.

Sounds like a telemarketer in the background. I let the guy who answered look at terminal, which showed this document:

_____________________________________________

Last login: Sat Jul 11 13:57:01 on ttys000

Remys-MacBook-Air:~ remy$ netstat

Active Internet connections

Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address (state)

tcp4 0 0 192.168.2.58.59819 mcs23-1-isp2.ams.https ESTABLISHED

tcp4 0 0 192.168.2.58.59818 mcs3-2-isp1.ams..https ESTABLISHED

tcp4 0 0 192.168.2.58.59817 mcs23-1-isp1.ams.https ESTABLISHED

tcp4 0 234 192.168.2.58.59816 mcs23-1-isp1.ams.https ESTABLISHED

tcp4 0 0 192.168.2.58.59414 17.172.232.9.5223 ESTABLISHED

tcp4 0 0 192.168.2.58.59413 17.143.163.165.5223 ESTABLISHED

udp6 0 0 *.52451 *.*

udp4 0 0 *.52451 *.*

udp6 0 0 *.57937 *.*

udp4 0 0 *.57937 *.*

udp6 0 0 *.63192 *.*

udp4 0 0 *.63192 *.*

_____________________________________________

He proceed to tell me I have 6 "hackers" logged into my account and no security settings.

For $199 or $399, I can have this cleaned up. It will take about 3 hours. He tells me he's at an "Apple certified" company. Shows me the company's website at Diving Support:

https://www.divine-support.com/index.html

Like most, I was searching for images, when one of the images took control of my Safari browser. When I tried to back out from the alert, it actually changed to a PC blue screen freeze. Heh.

Never call a phone number on a "system alert."

Yeah, it's a scam. And they sounded busy.

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Answer 2

Jul 13, 2015 9:33 AM in response to willaapple

Hey,

So what did you end up doing? And what did apple say to do? This happened to me just last night. I did not call but used my iPhone to look up to see if anyone else had this issue. Please let me know if it effected your computer or if it was a scam to think you had a virus or malware. thanks willaapple!

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Answer 3

Jul 13, 2015 10:47 AM in response to Remy Wing

Hey Remy,

So what happened? Did you get your computer back to normal by restarting? Did you contact apple? What did they advise? This just happened to me last night? Called apple and I have to pay to get service-care plan or something. Be grateful if you help me. Thanks

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Answer 4

willaapple Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 13, 2015 3:29 PM in response to JonandAsh

I had an Apple phone call scheduled for the next morning, so I just left the screen as it was overnight. The Apple tech ($29.95) was so helpful. He said that yes, it's a scam--they send you a message meant to panic you and when you call them they either enter your computer (not necessarily telling you they are doing that) and/or cite a big fee to "fix" it. He walked me through the process of shutting down and restarting my computer and had me clear out my caches and cookies. This is not something I felt I could do on my own confidently, and I was freaked out that something worse was going down. So now I'm very relieved; definitely worth the fee. The only bad thing is that now my Flickr account has lost some of my personal stats (and list of followers, and followees, etc.). Otherwise, all good.

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Answer 5

stedman1

Level 10

264,640 points

Jul 10, 2015 10:12 PM in response to willaapple

No, it is a scam. Do not call the number.

Force quit Safari, then restart Safari while holding the shift key.

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Answer 6

willaapple Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2015 9:08 AM in response to willaapple

Thank you so much. I had scheduled a phone call with Apple for this morning, and it's all figured out. My intuition about it was correct. Scam city.

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Answer 7

stedman1

Level 10

264,640 points

Jul 11, 2015 9:10 AM in response to willaapple

You are welcome.

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Answer 8

Eric Root

Level 10

685,257 points

Jul 12, 2015 6:45 AM in response to Remy Wing

You should erase and reformat your hard drive, then restore your computer from a backup made prior to when you allowed them access. Change your passwords and other critical information also.

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Answer 9

Jul 13, 2015 9:15 PM in response to willaapple

Tthanks! I did restart it and hopefully everything is good.

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