Help - RansomWare Attack Notification Received

It is a scammer trying to intimidate you into sending money. Delete the email and forget it. It is as easy to spoof an email address as it is for you to put any return address on a snail mail envelope that you want to use.

You mention you scanned your computer using some protection software service. What app would that be?

Memoire wrote:

One further worry I had was that since I opened the phishing e-mail I have had trouble accessing Google Translate


When I try to Access Google translate I get an error page.

https://translate.google.com/

This site can’t provide a secure connection

translate.google.com sent an invalid response.

I have cleared the browser cashe and the computers DNS cashe but get the same result.

I am using Google Chrome Version 70.0.3538.110 (Official Build) (64-bit)

The same result was obtained in Safari and Opera.

Would welcome any advice or feedback on what this issue could be, I have been concerned if this was related to the phishing e-mail as it seems unlikely Google would be unable to make a secure connection.

That error can arise if various anti-virus and anti-malware packages have been installed. Those packages intercept and sometimes even compromise network connections. That error can also arise if you're running an old version of macOS, though that Chrome 70.0.3538.110 version implies you're probably running a fairly recent version of macOS.

If you have anti-malware or anti-virus or an ad-blocker installed, disable that per the vendor instructions, reboot, and try again.

If you want to be 100% sure, then you could erase your disk and reinstall the OS - that would certainly get rid of anything that may or may not be there. I would also change my email address, abandon the old one, and choose an extremely difficult password.

youre welcome.

i have question.

you wrote “

What I did

I did a HD scan using the protection online server of the software I use and that showed no threats were found during the scan.”

what is name of protection software service you used ? I’m curious.

All such messages are scams. The only required step, is to delete the email.

Avoid phishing emails, fake 'virus' alerts, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Delete the message. It's an empty threat.

Deleting a DNS cache only slows down translations, and it'll get repopulated.

Changing an SSID is unnecessary, as those are readily scanned for if somebody in the area cares to find one, and the SSID is not relevant for remote access. WPA2 with a long password is recommended, but that's a general comment and not related to this mail message.

It's trivial to spoof the source address of a mail message. Pretty much anything in an arriving mail message is suspect, and it's common for folks to try to gain access through attachments or through social engineering. Such as this message.

The originating mail server may or may not be related to this. It's routine for spammers to use what are called open-relay mail servers, and to use compromised mail clients, and to use compromised mail server credentials, to send out spam.

Various folks shilling anti-malware, anti-virus, cache-cleaners, network monitoring firewalls or other add-on packages use similar tactics; scaring folks into installing stuff that's often unnecessary, and sometimes scaring folks into installing the actual malware.

Your response has caused a larger problem here, unfortunately.

If you made the backup before you received the email, then no, the external will be fine. You can restore whatever you need. Erase and reinstall is really not necessary, but it will wipe out everything (good and bad). However, I would consider changing my email address since yours appears to have been stolen/bought/hacked into.

And, there is really no need for an antivirus app - they can cause problems and false positives. I'd uninstall it. I also stay away from anything Google since I do not agree with their corporate policies of selling customers' information.

Remove the anti-virus, anti-malware and ad-blocking tools as a test, reboot, and try your access.

Various of these packages have a long history of causing problems and instabilities and crashes, and of actually introducing security vulnerabilities, and of not particularly solving its intended purpose.

Some of these add-on security packages are poorly designed and coded, and insecure. Some are outright scams.

But in any case, please remove the packages as a test, reboot, and try accessing Google Translate again.

Network connection security downgrades are a very common problem with some of these add-on packages.

Here's a short write-up on macOS security that might be helpful here:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-8841

As discussed in that security write-up and elsewhere, backups are one of the more important parts of system integrity and security, too. Your backups are your path to recovery from a breach, as well as recoveries from equipment loss, equipment damage, and from the inevitable hardware failures.