avast! completed with no threats found, so I'm not sure what to do next.

Do I panic and start removing all traces of me on the Internet?

-Susan

no..... the thing I would do....

change your passwords at all the important sites like online banking and sites that involve money and credit. Then work down to the lesser sites.

It's not a bad idea to change PW every 6 months..... my bank server requires it.

If the computer is kept at home... there is really not  a lot of danger in writing down the PW in a notebook and use a different PW for every site.

I have a habit of preferring a phone call to give a CC for a purchase rather than enter it in a web site .... if that is an option. 

I had a nasty experience of having my CC number hijacked at MIA as I was leaving the country for a mission trip. They caught someone trying to buy a $1500 item from a retailer in  California, and froze my account. (outside my normal activity pattern)  All my transactions in Argentina went through. When I got back I had to verify one by one the things I had purchased. I had informed them that I was going to Argentina by way of MIA. I think my number was grabbed at MIA when someone rolled my number claiming the swiper was down..... in a book store. 

I refuse to buy any item now where they want to roll my card.... motels still take the impression and that bugs the tar out of me.

Susan the guys here at the University run a few different sweeps on PCs MALWAREBYTES is the one they use the most, plus SPYBOT S&D, it seems some trojans evade the usual AV software
both of those programs are freeware

Susan, I haven't had this happen, but have had an experience of someone not delivering an item I'd purchased on eBay.  If this is any comfort to you, PayPal's customer support folks were wonderful, helping me get everything worked out - including getting my money back.  And best of all, I worked with them over the phone in realtime.  I hope they'll do the same for you.

Hi guys-

I just ran Spybot S&D (thanks for that, musicman100! Malwarebytes wanted me to sign up for a "free" offer or purchase with PayPal, of all things!). It identified a "DoubleClick" cookie which, depending on who you ask might or might not be awful. It looked awful enough to me, so I removed it.

It was identified as an Internet Explorer cookie, which is a little weird since I use FF, but maybe the browser doesn't matter. Anyway, it's gone.

I don't know how I'll know if that was the source of the problem, but I guess time will tell after I change my passwords (again).

@Russell: That's encouraging. I didn't see a phone# for them, but I was doing several things at once, so I'll check again.

Thanks, as always!

-Susan

run the scans often.

My CA just turned up a few false positives..... I talked with 2 tech support depts on the chat...and it was determined that the new CA update, which has a higher bar for detecting "similar code" was the issue. I was instructed how to get around this issue....

But,,, the point is.... scan often and catch the little buggers before that get a chance to do damage ..... if they are the malicious type. In my case, the code was legitimate. Many apps use code that do the same thing as viruses do...like accessing memory and disk locations that are reserved for system functions, that are however legitimate.

Susan G


Hi guys-

I just ran Spybot S&D (thanks for that, musicman100! Malwarebytes wanted me to sign up for a "free" offer or purchase with PayPal, of all things!). It identified a "DoubleClick" cookie which, depending on who you ask might or might not be awful. It looked awful enough to me, so I removed it.

Susan here is a CNET link to D/L the MALWAREBYTES free version http://download.cnet.com/...subj=dl&tag=button I didnt see that paypal/sign up thing

the free version works well BTW

Hi musicman100-

That link worked fine, thanks! I'll run another scan with it now.

Update: PayPal sent me an e-mail saying (essentially) they've reimbursed my account. Yay! I'm going to follow up with them to see what more I can find out about what happened.

Thanks again, all!

-Susan

Susan, you've already received some great advice here, and I'm happy to second about everything that's been said.  I also use Spybot.  However, The phishing email guys have developed their game to practically an art form.  I got one from Chase a few weeks ago that was incredibly authentic looking.  The giveaway was that I haven't had an account with those predatory bastards in about 5 years. 

Rt. click the email, and select properties if you use an email client and look at the details or source, to see who sent it and what path it followed (how many hops and where).  If in doubt... call the bank or vendor before following any links or (worse still) opening any attachments.

Hi Phil-

Thanks, and you're right about phishing being very sophisticated these days, but there's no doubt that in this case it was all authentic communication re my account from PayPal.

Fortunately, my account's been reimbursed (see above)!

Thanks again-

-Susan