Call to Resolve ... scam? danger?

You did not download a virus however you fell 100% for a SCAM and may have compromised your computer and your financial information. My recommendation is to immediately disconnect the computer from the Internet and do an erase and install of system and re-install using your Time Machine backup from a time earlier than the call. If you provided the person ANY financial information (credit card numbers, etc...) then contact those institutions and ask for advice including putting your account on fraud alert.

Please carefully read Phony "tech support" / "ransomware" popups and web pages

Good luck

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Restart in the Recovery Partition (Command + R) - open Disk Utility - Select Internal HD - Select Format - and then format it. This will erase all data. Then exit DU, install OS X and follow the on-screen commands. Finally after OS X is installed select the option to restore from Time Machine, choose it and follow the on-screen options. If you are challenged by any of this book an appointment with a Geniusand ask them to do this for you.

Questions: Did I download a virus? Did she download a virus while she had control? Is LMIRescue a danger? Did she upload sensitive information from my computer?

She had you download and install LogMeIn Rescue, a Remote Access Tool with legitimate reasons for existing. That in itself is not harmful, and there is no reason to suspect a "virus" will be the result of its use, but by having a stranger (a criminal, really) log in and use your Mac it should no longer be considered secure in its present state. Uploading sensitive information, if such information exists on your Mac, is a definite possibility.

If you have a Time Machine backup created preceding the intrusion, recovery is simple. Follow these instructions: OS X Yosemite: Recover your entire system. Choose a date / time earlier than that of the intrusive event, and whatever changes were made to your Mac subsequent to that time will be gone.

In general, changing passwords associated with any services containing personally valuable information would also be a good idea.

Bear in mind that unauthorized access to computers has been a felony offense in the United States for many years, and as such you may consider your Mac evidence in a criminal proceeding should you wish to pursue that course of action. In that case you would not want to erase whatever evidence that would support a criminal charge. However, most of these scams arise from parts of the world far beyond the reach of most law enforcement agency's ability to act. Even if that were not so, criminals would logically argue that you authorized the intrusion, leaving them off the hook from that perspective.

How big of a Bozo am I?

😁

You aren't, but it is best to remain vigilant of these scams, since they are extremely popular.

This same thing happened to me today with "Call to Resolve"!! I called the number because my MacBook Pro had been doing funny things last night with all these pop up ads that kept coming up. So I called the number because my laptop was literally going berserk, and it was an Indian sounding man who seemed legit. He was really patient with me so I thought it was all legit. But what really freaked me out was when we did screen sharing, and I gave him screen access to my laptop to "help" me. I still have NO idea how he accessed MY laptop. We were just talking on the phone. THAT is really creepy. Whoever reads this in the future, do NOT call any pop up ads that say your Mac has a virus/is in danger/etc. I am planning on changing every one of my passwords and restoring from a Time Machine backup.

Don't feel bad, I fell for the scam too.

I replied to the original post, but I wanted to ask you about something you wrote in your article that another person posted in this thread:

Whatever you do, never call any phone numbers that appear. They will just want payment, usually in multiple hundreds of US dollars. Worse yet, they may attempt to deceive you into granting them remote control of your Mac, conceivably enabling them to install a "backdoor" granting criminals unfettered ability to harvest any or all the information contained on your Mac, to be used for any conceivable purpose. That's a road you do not want to travel.

I fell for the scam, so I am planning on restoring from a Time Machine backup and changing all my passwords, but will that be enough? I don't really have anything all that important on my MacBook Pro, but I just don't want anything bad to happen to it. What is the "backdoor" that you mentioned? When that happens, is only the information harvested retrievable or do they forever have a doorway into my Mac? AHH! HELP!

I forgot to mention that I didn't give them ANY credit card info. WHEW! The cost was $200. Anyone who is reading this, watch out for Call to Resolve, it is a scam.

Were you able to or can we dispute the charges on credit cards?