Getting hacked doesn’t always mean your world has come to an end. In many cases, however, fixing it is a grueling process, physically and mentally, and you’ll have to provide a lot of information you hadn’t planned to disclose.

Here’s how it started. A client clicked on a pop-up window at 3 p.m. that said their computer was infected with a virus. The message in the pop-up said illegal activity was detected on the computer. But if the client called the number in the window, they could clean it up.

The client let them on the computer and was given a cost (it doesn’t matter what it was) to fix the problem. They said it could be paid for by taking cash out of his account and depositing the cash at a specified ATM. They said not to turn off the computer. The client told friends they thought they’d been hacked.

They called the next morning and said they felt stupid. We told them not to. We see hacks from pop-up windows all the time – and they frequently happen on sites where people print recipes. The site opens what looks like a print dialogue box, and it can sometimes be difficult to know what the icon in the box means.

Our first advice to anyone who thinks they’ve been hacked is to turn off the computer and call us immediately at 973-433-6676. In most cases, the money is already gone by the time you turn it off, but nobody can get anything out of a computer that’s shut down.

To do our best to close off any new attempts from a hacker, we ask our clients to walk us through every detail of the incident. We need to find where something started so that we can close off any loops. We need to do this at every point affected by the hack. Once a hacker has gotten into your computer, you can bet they’ll be back – and you can bet they’ll look for all the doors they got through.

The obvious lesson we can all learn from this is to be extremely careful about pop-up windows. You can install pop-up blockers on your computer’s browser, and they can be configured so you can allow them on a case-by-case basis.

But pop-ups can pose additional risks, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widely deployed. When you call a phone number in a pop-up – or any link for that matter – your voice can be recorded and synthesized. If you visit financial or health-related websites that rely on voiceprints as part of their security, you can be at risk. Whenever you answer any phone call from a number you don’t know, avoid saying the word “yes.”

We can help you tighten your security by helping you configure pop-up blockers and fine-tune your anti-virus programs. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to discuss your needs.