Dear Ferret Folks-

Well, it took my husband and me quite some time, but our combined
efforts were finally sufficient to slay the dreaded ActiveX Object
trojan virus that effectively crippled our computer for a week. It
really was a virus, and not as Gerald Eiden suggested, that I had
finally TYPED my computer to death, although I can understand his
belief to that end. (I did have to replace a keyboard recently, for
nearly that reason!)

I warn you, do NOT download something called "Video ActiveX" that
promotes itself as a plugin to help you see some types of video. It
will not. It says it is a Mozilla plug in. It is not. Instead, it will
infect your computer with the ActiveX Object trojan virus. This is two
programs that run constantly and cannot be deleted. They tell you that
you are infected with hideous viruses and the imminent death of your
hard drive (lies) in order to scare you. Then they direct you to sites
offering to sell you the software you need to kill the viruses, at
about sixty dollars a pop. While that is happening, bad people have
access to your personal information. Your computer is running so slow
that your own scan and kill programs don't work, if they even *notice*
the bad programs, which are programed to hide from them in *multiple*
places in your computer.

It took insane patience to find all of the hiding places, and kill all
of the copies one by one. Piece of advice. DON'T GO THERE!

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5460]

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