VIRUS AND HACKING CODE 23017.

Any such popup message will be a scam. Do not interact with such messages.

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

If you have cleared the annoying popup message, and it has not returned, there is nothing further to do. The key thing to remember is to not call any number presented, or download any file from the popup message.

I have called and they eventually got connected to my notebook! they hung up on me when I refused to purchase any apps from them. From then on, I end every activities with them, but now since I have got connected with them, how do i check if they still have access to my laptop?

I just had this come up on my computer and of course I freaked out. Called the number and immediately knew it was a scam. A. The person on the other end answered "hello" and B. Their English was poor. I asked what company have I called and he made out I was confused- "Who did you call?"

I asked to speak to someone from Australia, he said "Mam, how can I help you?

Hung up and found this discussion board.

Thanks everyone.

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. You don't know what software might have been installed.

Well, it happened to me and I did fall for it! (Where was my mind????!!!) I have a Mac Desktop. But because I also put the situation on Facebook, a computer friend alerted me.... so I got onto my bank and cancelled the credit card as the payment had not gone through. I changed logins, etc.

But I also have no personal details on the Mac either.

My friend sent me the link for the AVG anti-virus etc and I ran the program. It took hours and found 4 threats which I eliminated. All the EaseMyTech people have a web site and supposed Facebook/Twitter but have no working links to those 2 sites.

Yes, the scam is to get the 400 bucks out of you. No excuses on my part as they went to the Apple site etc... very clever.... hopefully this will be the end of it but I will be cautiously watching.

I also had this pop up and for some reason rang the number. It didn't connect and I just heard an American ladies voice saying the person I was ringing couldn't pick up. Does this mean I am safe from the hacking or should I still be concerned for the safely of my laptop? What should I do?

I am freaking out here so any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!!

Please see https://sites.google.com/site/appleclubfhs/support/advice-and-articles/browser-p opup-hijack-safari, and for those who called the scammers, pay extra attention to the "What if I Called the Number" section.

(Note that I am affiliated with that site, and some pages contain ads).

If you have not divulged any information to the scammers, or permitted them to access your computer, no damage has been done.

This is what I sent to the Australian Government Scam Watch site:

"Ease My Tech bring up a warning on my browser saying that Apple has detected a "**** virus" as shown in the attached screen image. The warning "freezes" any attempt to do anything on the computer. The number you are to ring (as shown on the attached file) is: 1800 649 546

This company passes itself as to mislead you to think it is Apple Corp. In fact it is a company that detects so called viruses and offers to clean your "Mac" and all devices for a charge.

The costs turn out to be A$398 with a supposed year's warranty.

It turns out that this also happens on PCs that carry Windows and it is a "Microsoft" warning. Indeed, there is discussion on the internet about the attached phone number.

Fortunately I was alerted to the scam and was able to cancel my Visa Card before any money was taken out. I have since received a new card and changed applicable security/passwords etc... I can no longer access Ease My Tech website on my Safari or Firefox browsers as a message states: "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access/on this server."

This makes it conclusive that it was a very clever, sophisticated scam where they ended up down loading an anti-virus program from what appears to be a legitimate business called Webfoot which is still accessible. They also have a Facebook page.

Therefore it would be in the world's public interest to stop these scammers from Ease My Tech. Alerting companies involved."

The site does not even exist now... until it resurfaces under a different name.... but I did record the original conversation with my Mac.....😉