- Microsoft Certified Technician
- Desktop Computer Repair
- Laptop Computer Repair
- Mac Computer Repair
- iPad Repair
- iPhone Repair
- Network Installation
- Computer Virus Removal
- Operating System Reinstalls
- LCD Screen Replacement
- Upgrades
Business And Residential Computer Services Include:
September 8, 2012 by
Craig’s List Scam
January 28, 2013 by
There are so many ways to get scammed when buying or selling on Craig’s List but here is one that one of my customers fell vitctim to. He posted an item for sale and had an out-of-state buyer quickly purchase the item. The buyer owed my customer $50.00 but when he got the check it was written for $500.00. My customer called the buyer and the buyer asked him to deposit the check and then wire him the difference. Well, the check bounced, so my customer lost $500.00. The best thing to do when buying or selling on Craig’s list is to only deal with people you meet in person inside a very public place and preferably have another person along with you. Don’t ever agree to wire money or accept checks, including cashier’s checks and money orders, which are easily faked.
We Provide iPad and iPhone repair
October 23, 2012 by
We provide iPad and iPhone repair in Wilmington NC. We stock all parts and have a fast turn-around time. We can replace your cracked digitizer and/or LCD screen. We can also replace any other broken or damaged part on your iPad or iPhone. So, if you are in the Wilmington NC area and are in need of iPad repair or iPhone repair, call us at Computer Fixx
FBI Computer Virus
October 8, 2012 by
I’m seeing more and more computers infected with the FBI computer virus. As soon as the antivirus companies write patches to block one version of this virus, the criminals write 10 more! As you may already know, when you get this virus a screen pops up telling you the FBI has detected that you have been illegally downloading music, mp3s, or movies and that they have locked your computer. The criminals further tell you that you must wire them $200.00 via Moneypak before they will unlock your PC.
Of course this is a complete scam. If you wire them the money, you will be out $200.00 and you’ll have a computer virus. If you don’t wire them the $200.00, then you’ll just have a computer virus. Either way, you have been victimized. As always, be careful what you download, as the virus is embedded in some music, mp3s, and/or movies. This virus is particularly effective at making money for the hackers/criminals or there wouldn’t already be so many variations of it in the wild.
Check out this recent screen shot I photographed from one of my customer’s computers.
Call us for Apple computer repair Wilmington NC
Beware Phone Calls From People Pretending To Be Microsoft Employees
September 27, 2012 by
More and more customers are telling us that they have been contacted by someone with an Indian accent who pretends to be a Microsoft employee. These scammers proceed to tell victims that they have detected that their computer is infected with malware and needs to be scanned. The criminal then tells the victim that he needs to remote into his/her computer to perform virus removal. At this point they ask the victim to pay them $200.00 or more dollars for the service. If the victim refuses to pay, they offer a free 7 day trial for their fake service and they ask again to remote into the computer.
If you let these criminals remote into your computer, they will have access to all of the files stored on your computer and they will also be able to install any kind of malware they choose. Microsoft would never call consumers to tell them their computer is infected. If you get a call from these scammers, hang up immediately and never give them any personal information.
FBI Moneypak Virus
September 23, 2012 by
We’re seeing more and more instances of the the FBI Moneypak virus. This virus causes your webcam to start filming you and an official looking FBI warning pops up and tells you that unless you wire the FBI $200.00, your computer will remain locked and that you will be arrested for infringing on video copyright laws. The first few times I saw this virus it didn’t pop up if you started your computer in safe mode. Now, it pops up in safe mode and is a bit more stubborn to remove.
This virus is becoming almost an epidemic. As always, be careful what you click on and what you download! Make sure you have an antivirus and that it’s up-to-date. This ransomware, like the fake antivirus, looks like it’s here to stay for awhile. Stay out of bad neighborhoods on the Internet.
These hackers/criminals must be making a fortune from all the people who wire them $200.00. When a virus is particularly successful for the criminals, they constantly release variations on the original as the antivirus companies put out patches to stop its spread.
We Repair iPhones And iPads!
August 28, 2012 by
We repair all models of iPad, iPhone, and iPod. We also repair many other brands of tablets and smartphones. We do all of our repairs in-house and we offer a quick turn-around time. Sometimes the same day. We guarantee our service.
Common iPad repairs we do include:
- iPad digitizer & LCD screen repair
- iPad headphone jack repair
- iPad speaker repair
- iPad home button repair
- iPad dock connector repair
- iPad battery repair
- iPad back cover repair
- iPad power button repair
- iPad volume button repair
- iPad rotate lock button repair
- iPad front camera repair
- iPad rear camera repair
- iPad front camera removal
- iPad rear camera removal
- iPad water damage repair
Common iPhone repairs we do include:
- iPhone digitizer and LCD screen repair
- iPhone headphone jack repair
- iPhone speaker repair
- iPhone home button repair
- iPhone dock connector repair
- iPhone battery repair
- iPhone back cover repair
- iPhone volume button repair
- iPhone power button repair
- iPhone vibrate button repair
- iPhone front camera repair
- iPhone rear camera repair
- iPhone front camera removal
- iPhone rear camera removal
Your Antivirus Program Will Never Pop-Up And Say Your System Is Infected And Needs To Be Scanned
March 7, 2012 by
Whichever antivirus you use, it will never just suddenly pop-up and say your system is infected and has to be scanned. If this happens to you, then you have a virus in your computer that is pretending to be an antivirus program. Malwarebytes is extremely effective at removing a fake antivirus if you run it immediately. If you don’t have Malwarebytes on your computer, download it right away. You can download it from the downloads page on our website at www.computerfixx.biz.
Then run Malwarebytes. Update it first, if you can, and then run it immediately. Even if you are unable to update it, you should run it pronto! If the virus won’t allow you to run Malwarebytes at all, restart your PC in safemode and run it from there.
After Malwarebytes finishes scanning, you will be able to see what it found and a few simple clicks will take the viruses off. After this is done, you should open your regular antivirus program, make sure it’s updated, and let it scan your computer.
If you don’t have an antivirus program on your PC, you can download the free version of AVG2013 from our website at www.computerfixx.biz. Once it’s installed, update it and then let it do a full scan.
Your Computer Might Be A Zombie!
June 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Zombie computers are computers that have a type of malware in them that allow hackers/criminals to remote into and out of them whenever they want. The hackers use these zombie machines to commit cybercrimes of various types such as:
- Sending out huge amounts of spam
- Storing illegal files like pirated movies, games, music etc…
- Click Fraud
- Launching Denial of Service Attacks—Hackers flood a web server with large amounts of traffic which overwhelms the system and causes it to crash.
Zombie computers are part of a robot network that contain anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of computers. The robot network is called a botnet.
When the administrator of a botnet remotes into a zombie computer to commit a cybercrime, it makes it appear that the crime was committed by the victim’s computer.
Victims usually don’t know their computer is infected as this type of malware, usually a rootkit bundled with a Trojan, runs silently in the background. The hackers don’t want you to know your computer is infected because they want to keep as many PCs in the botnet as possible.
A zombie computer may have some symptoms of quirkiness or of not running optimally, but many people decide it’s a hardware issue or Internet provider issue and just forget about it.
Your antivirus software doesn’t always detect rootkits, so it’s possible that your computer is infected even if your virus scans find no malware. Many antivirus programs now come with a rootkit scanner, but even then not all rootkits are detectable.
Sometimes the only way to remove a rootkit is to reinstall the operating system.
Do Not Call Registry Doesn’t Work
April 14, 2011 by 2 Comments
A phone call from a telemarketer is about as welcome as a knock on the front door by Jehovah’s Witnesses. A few years ago when the National Do Not Call Registry was created, I remember thinking that my problems with these persistent and unpleasant people was over but I was wrong.
Not only am I getting more calls than ever, but reporting them to the Do Not Call Registry hasn’t helped at all. I have reported the same slime-ball company that sells labor law posters four times and they still call me nearly every day usually using different phone numbers.
The call is recorded and the recording makes you think you are getting an official call from the labor board. They try to get you to confirm your address by pressing one. If you confirm your address they ship you unordered posters and then demand $59.99 from you.
The posters are free from the labor board in each state, though these scammers don’t tell you this. I don’t understand why this place hasn’t been stopped from swindling business owners out of money.
A lot of the telemarketer calls I receive lately are from Indian SEO people who are trying to sell their dubious expertise at getting your website to the number one spot in a Google search. Can you imagine paying these hacks to spam the Internet trying to “promote” your website only to get it banned?
I also get a lot of calls from local people who want you to pay for an advertisement in some program or other that will never be seen by anyone.
Another problem with the Do Not Call Registry is that you can’t file a complaint against a company that calls if you have done business with them in the last six months. That means for example, if you buy one service from a corporation its legal for their telemarketers to call you about any other services they sell.
That means since I had a token size ad in the AT&T yellow pages print directory, that I cancelled by the way, they are allowed to call me once or twice a week or as often as they like to harass me into purchasing another ad. This will continue until the first part of July when they finally publish their directory.
You can tell them not to call back all you like; they will still call you back again and again and again. As soon as I find out it’s them, I say hold please and never come back on the phone. I consider it pay back for the years of my life I’ve wasted on hold with their customer no service people.
There really doesn’t seem to be much you can do these days to protect yourself from these unscrupulous people. Whether it helps or not, I still report every single one of these telemarketers to the Do Not Call Registry. Supposedly, telemarketers who call numbers registered on this list are charged $10,000. I don’t think the law is enforced very often, but it feels good having a place to vent.