Is This Spam?

[lampard10]

Everytime I start one of my computors up, I get a message box ( 3/4 screen) thanking me for my three day trial with movie pass. It goes on to say that my three days is up and and I asked for a free trial, I was now legally bound to send them $84. The problem is there is no way to get rid of this box. There is no close, no other boxes only a continue box. When I click on that a girl comes on screen (fully clothed) and tells me I must pay or else. What can I do?

I tried to click on the payments options to see what happens, but this doesn't work anyway. Any other options and I get a permament message saying my computor does not support this, and I have to close the computor down and start again.

Edited May 18, 2006 by lampard10

[Totster]

Sounds like someone has been on a naughty site.. try running your spyware programs or try Adaware and/or Spybot which can be downloaded for free.. they maybe able to clear it.

Run your AV software also to see what comes up

totster

Edited May 18, 2006 by Totster

[Artisan]

Sounds like someone has been on a naughty site.. try running your spyware programs or try Adaware and/or Spybot which can be downloaded for free.. they maybe able to clear it.

Run your AV software also to see what comes up

totster

Totster has given some good advice here. These two programs, if their databases are up-dated regularly, will find this and other 'malware', 'adware' and 'spyware'. These intrusions don't necessarily come from 'naughty' sites though as some spyware can be included in many legitimate, usually offered for free, downloads e.g. emoticons (Smiley Icons), some free download management software and some games. It pays to be aware and to be choosy about what you download. I hope that you can rid your computer of this nuisance.

[astral]

The latest version of the ZoneAlarm firewall includes adware scan/removal facilities.

[lopburi3]

I would try a recover if using XT first. No guarantee but I have gone back to day before on children computers several times when it appears they have a problem and it has worked.

[lampard10]

Thanks everyone.......................but I really don't know a lot about computors. The one that is affected is running windows 98. I'm running three more on XP and one on 2000 and they are not.

Can you give me a programme that an idiot can download please.

[george]

Download and run "Spybot Search and Destroy":

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Spybo...oy/1043809773/1

[raro]

Does she undress if you send the money?

[meadish_sweetball]

Depending on the CPU speed, size of the hard disk and size of the RAM, you might want to install Windows 2000 or Windows XP in that computer instead.

Windows 98 is a pretty shaky system, and there is no System Restore in it, so Lop's suggestion will not work.

Otherwise I agree with the above, Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy usually catch most things.

[slimdog]

Lampard10

I have had a check around at this particular program. One of the things that all the sites seem to mention is that if you are getting pop-ups then you have already created an account with movie pass, and under the terms of the eula they have the right to bill you even if you remove the software from your computer. So, if you feel that there is anyway at all that they have your credit details it is very important that you contact Movie-pass and cancel the account. Only after the account is cancelled should the software/spyware/malware be removed.

There is a bit more information here:

http://www.schrockinnovations.com/removemoviepass.php

As Movie pass requires a user to accept the terms of use, I dont know if you will be able to find an auto remover. By all accounts, spybot,adaware or anti-virus software are unable to remove the program.

There are however quite a few sites which can help remove the program

http://profend.com/answers/moviepass.html

http://profend.com/answers/moviepass5.html

Other information can be found at

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/lof...php/t47647.html

http://www.vcn.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=422

Hope of some help

[stumonster]

Depending on the CPU speed, size of the hard disk and size of the RAM, you might want to install Windows 2000 or Windows XP in that computer instead.

Windows 98 is a pretty shaky system, and there is no System Restore in it, so Lop's suggestion will not work.

Otherwise I agree with the above, Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy usually catch most things.

win2k pro will run succesfully on a pentium 166 with 32 meg of ram

startupcpl ( http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml ) is a nice little free program that you can run off a floppy which allows you to stop programs from starting which can then allow you to remove them.

[george]

Also, msconfig in the WinXP START -->> Run -->> msconfig is a great tool, to delete autostart programmes like MSN etc etc.

[Farma]

Excuse my ignorance on this matter but wouldn’t the billing be for the customer who provided his credit card details in the first place? I’m assuming the computer was used as an internet shop type one.

Maybe a notice posted near the computers warning customers of that movie pass program and a hard drive reformat of the problem computer will be the easiest solution.

It will be up to the person who provided his credit card details to sort out the billing problem. I had a similar problem with a site using tactics similar to the ones used by movie pass a few years ago. I disputed the bill with my credit card company and it worked in my favor, the payment was stopped and my credit card refunded.

Edited May 18, 2006 by Farma

[lampard10]

Excuse my ignorance on this matter but wouldn’t the billing be for the customer who provided his credit card details in the first place? I’m assuming the computer was used as an internet shop type one.

Maybe a notice posted near the computers warning customers of that movie pass program and a hard drive reformat of the problem computer will be the easiest solution.

It will be up to the person who provided his credit card details to sort out the billing problem. I had a similar problem with a site using tactics similar to the ones used by movie pass a few years ago. I disputed the bill with my credit card company and it worked in my favor, the payment was stopped and my credit card refunded.

I agree....I'm not worried. I don't have credit cards. All I wanted to know is if it's a scam or not.

[Farma]

In my opinion is it’s a scam. My credit card company thought the same with the problem I had a couple of years ago. They didn’t hesitate to cancel the payment and refund my card.

A few of my colleagues have come across malware problems along similar lines recently.

The scams they encountered showed the same result as you have. A screen keeps popping up more and more frequently as time passes until the computer is virtually unusable.

The screen requests payment to provide a fix to repair the problem. The payment is to the same company that placed the malware on the computer in the first place.

After days of trying to use fixes provided on the net they found it was easier and quicker to just reformat their hard drives.