Someone sent me an email

OwnerOfBitdefender · May 2023

As the title says, someone sent me an email, to my gmail, saying they had found a way to hack me. I deleted it without thinking much about it. I didn't even open it. I assumed it's spam, but my computer has been acting slower this afternoon. Even doing a quick scan and a full scan, it seemed a bit slow. What should I do next? I have bit defender internet security and it's running...

Flexx · May 2023

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/95856/someone-sent-me-an-email

Check if below steps helps you in any way.

1) Restart PC in safe mode: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234

2) Open run command and run below command one by one:

temp ,delete all the files in the folder

%temp% ,delete all the files in folder

prefetch ,delete all the files in folder

3) Restart your PC in general mode by unticking the option that you selected to run the system in safe mode and then click apply.

4) Reset your browsers:

Google Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en

Mozilla Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

Microsoft Edge: https://malwaretips.com/blogs/reset-microsoft-edge/

Opera: https://browsersolution.com/reset-opera-browser

Vivaldi: https://help.vivaldi.com/desktop/install-update/full-reset-of-vivaldi/

Brave: https://support.brave.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017903152-How-do-I-reset-Brave-settings-to-default-

5) Run Disk Cleanup: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/disk-cleanup-in-windows-8a96ff42-5751-39ad-23d6-434b4d5b9a68

6) Run Disk Defragmenter: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/defragment-your-windows-10-pc-048aefac-7f1f-4632-d48a-9700c4ec702a

7) Reset your network settings: Open command prompt(cmd) as administrator and type below stated commands one by one and hit enter.

ipconfig/flushdns

ipconfig /registerdns

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /release6

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /renew6

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset

netsh int ipv6 reset

netsh int ip reset all

arp -d

nbtstat -R

nbtstat -RR

netsh winhttp reset proxy

netsh advfirewall reset

netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled

netsh int tcp show global

exit

8) Restart your PC/Laptop

This should resolve your issue.

Regards

Gjoksi · May 2023

Hello.

As last option, you should do the steps below.

First, create a log file on your Windows device using Bitdefender Support Tool, by following these steps:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1733/

and

create a log file on your Windows device using BDsysLog, by following these steps:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1922/

Next, contact Bitdefender Consumer Support by e-mail:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

with short description of the issue.

After that, you will get an automated reply by the Bitdefender Customer Care Team, with your ticket number.

Now, in reply to that automated reply, you can send the log files you already created in the first step.

Since you are all done, just wait for the support engineers to investigate your issue and find a solution to fix the issue.

Regards.

Alexandru_BD · May 2023

That was most likely a phishing email. In addition to the above, I would also recommend a system scan. But before starting the scan, it is recommended to make sure that your antivirus signatures are up-to-date. New malware is discovered and added to the detection database every day. Scanning your device using an outdated security solution may prevent it from detecting new threats found since the last update. This is why it is crucial to keep Bitdefender up to date.

See what Bitdefender finds during the scan and then follow the steps provided in the above comments to find out what is causing the slowdown. You may find out that the events are not connected and the slowdown is pure coincidence, but it's always a good idea to double check and stay on the safe side.

Regards

OwnerOfBitdefender · May 2023

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up hiring a tech person and they removed the malware.

Also, I have a final question: I got VPN yesterday and turned it on, but noticed it was turned off today, when I had it turned on yesterday. Is this because Bitdefender updated itself and asked me to restart my computer? Do I have to keep checking to make sure it stays on?