I had planned to write an article on the internet and the vast amount of choice it enables us to have this month. However, the events of yesterday have left me so gobsmacked that i felt compelled to write the article on this subject instead.
Here’s a true story for you. This week i was robbed. No, they didn’t mug me in the street, no they didn’t break into my house, no they didn’t even take cash or credit cards from my pockets either. In fact, I didn’t even know i’d been robbed until yesterday when somebody told me!
Talk about being in a state of shock. I still am. I didn’t even know what hit me. There i was going about my day to day business when i opened a letter from my telephone company/Internet Service Provider, British Telecom (BT). The letter started “As part of our commitment to Customer Service we aim to alert customers to unusually large phone bills as soon as this appears likely.” As soon as i read the word “alert” my mind was racing. The letter basically went on to explain, in very vague terms, that my bill so far had exceeded £100 due largely to international calls. I hadnt made any international calls i thought to myself. Actually, i don’t even make any calls on this line, i only use it for internet access.
I immediately called the phone company as requested in the letter. The person on the other end was so unsympathetic, I had to practically draw the details out of her. The facts were, she was in no doubt, that a virus had infected my computer and dialed first a premium rate number within my country, and then an international number at an even higher premium rate (via satellite apparently). All completely without my knowledge or permission.
I found out that one call alone had cost me a whopping £83 (approx. US$140), and it turns out, i am fully liable for the costs. “But, do i have any say in whether i pay these fraudulent charges” i say. “You will have to pay” she states still completely unsympathetically.
Actually it turns out i was lucky, if you can call it that, in one respect. The phone company at least had the foresight to stop international calling from my line soon after they spotted this “high international usage”. Otherwise, who knows how high the bill might have been. I wonder how many people around the globe have had a similar experience? I also wonder why i haven’t heard about this before and yet for the BT lady i spoke to it seemed alarmingly common and she was certain what had caused it?
I suppose that in a world where things are increasingly done electronically, it is inevitable that criminals will commit crimes electronically too. E-crime is therefore a reality and something we should reasonably protect ourselves against. A word to the wise – protect your computer (and therefore your personal details stored on them) with whatever antivirus/ security software your qualified computer technician advises. Always keep it up to date so that it recognises all known viruses and security issues. In other words, arm your computer to the high teeth!
You may also want to consider stopping international calls being made on your phone line as an added precaution. I’ve written this article in an attempt to stop others being robbed in the same way. Please give the matter some serious consideration. There is an enormous amount of help and information available on protecting your computer available on the internet too.
Just go to your favourite search engine and search under terms like: virus, antivirus software, computer security, etc. My technician also recommended some free software called Spybot which found various virus type programs on my system and removed them. You can find it easily in a search engine by searching under the term spybot. (Just to make it clear. I have no affiliation with the makers of this software whatsoever. Im just passing on a tip.)