34 replies to this topic

[Mr. Swenk]

Here's a repost from the old forum - Spread the word

Quoting Mike

With all the dialer programs we find here, I assume this must be a big problem. Backdoor installing a dialer program is certainly unethical and sleazy, and probably illegal.

If you have ever gotten a phone bill related to a dialer program, please post about it here with when this happened and how much your bill was. When this list reaches a certain size, I will start pointing some law makers at it.

Spread the word about this post everywhere you can, because I want as many examples of this sleazy business in this one post as possible.

EDIT: Those of you who are victims of a company named Alyon will want to see this.

The attorneys-general of California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin are suing Alyon for their dialer practices. If you are an Alyon victim and live in these states, please contact your state's attorney-general's office.


I don't want any discussion in this particular post. Just post the fact that you ended up with a phone bill due to a dialer program, how much it cost, and when this was. I have just removed a great many posts that shouldn't have been made here. Unrelated posts will be removed.

No discussion in this thread. Only victims posting.
Keine Diskussion in diesem Gewinde. Opfernur bekanntgeben.
Ninguna discusión en este hilo de rosca. Solamente fijación de las víctimas.
Aucune discussion en ce fil. Seulement signalisation de victimes.
Nessuna discussione in questo filetto. Soltanto invio delle vittime.
Nenhuma discussão nesta linha. Somente afixar das vítimas.

I have said it in six different languages, and repeating it for the seventh time, NO DISCUSSION, ONLY VICTIMS POSTING HOW MUCH THEY WERE SCAMMED OUT OF!

If you have a news story about dialers, start a new topic.
If you have a dialer right now and don't know how to remove it, start a new topic.
If you know how to stop every dialer program ever created, start a new topic.

Pardon the irritation, but I have just moved the 49th and 50th off-topic posts out of this thread, and I'm astonished at how difficult it is to get this very simple point across.

Edited by cnm, 22 December 2008 - 10:23 PM.
Removed some obsolete or broken links

[wawadave]

hello
so far no but have found a few on machine with spybot and a trojin hunter program. not good.

[ScumwareH8er]

Here is the translation for Croat,Serbian & Bosniac:

Nema rasprave na ovoj temi.Neka se jave samo zrtve.

[wawadave]

Here is the translation for Croat,Serbian & Bosniac:

Nema rasprave na ovoj temi.Neka se jave samo zrtve.

what?

[T_Man42]

Hello all. I am a victim of a dialer. For the month of April I recieved an international telephone bill of $1,100.

My computer has been under siege from malware, spyware and at least one virus for the past 5 months. Durring this time I have tried many methods of removing these programs from my computer. But everytime I ran spybot, or ad-aware, only some of them were deleted - and the ones that were deleted seemed to appear on my hard drive AGAIN after a reboot. I could not install any of norton's virus and protection software for some reason - it just wouldnt install from disk. I bought a registered copy of Regestry mechanic to help fix the problem, but this hardly scratched the surface. Macaffey security center as loaded onto my computer before any of the spyware problems, but it malfunctioned and wont even UNinstall now. I am using windows 98, pentium4 1.6 processor.

We got a cable modem service and a router several months ago.. at that time I stopped using my internal modem to get i-net through my local university - BUT I did NOT take the phone cord out of my modem - it remained connected to the phone line where I promptly forgot about it in my broadband bliss.

Then, suddenly, the phone bill arrived - 39 calls over the course of a week, each either 1 minute or 6 minutes @ $5.74/minute. All calls were the same number - 682386210 to the Cook Islands for (as my phone company describes it) 'an adult website'. But they cannot tell me what site it is.

My phone company has informed me that all they will do is set me up with a payment plan for the $1,100 dollar charges.

I have filed a complaint with the FCC in hopes that this issue can come to a just and rational end.. I am still awaiting the results of this process.


All these calls were dialed while the computer was unattended in my oppinion - I know for a FACT that I did not look at any adult websites the week 39 times.

We are pulling our hair out at this situation.

If anyone has any information please contact me at Email address removed we are desperate for any further understanding of how we might proceed.

[minimesmom]

Hi just wanted to let you all know that we were victims of this dialer scam on April 12th & 14th. We were hit with a $250 LD call to the Cook IS.

[Cher]

Hi all, Cher here, it happened to me as well, $389.48 Canadian with Bell Canada from May 14th to May 10th. Soa Tome, Africa, and Nauru, Australlia. 124 minutes in total. $3.14 and $3.26 Bell Canada was not helpful at all. They say I owe them and I said no way, this is fraud. I will not help them keep this racket going. For me only long distance calling cards. Keep up the good work and lets all stick together and make the phone companies take responsiblity and protect their customers with blocking and refusal to pay. Thanks.

Edited by Cher, 31 May 2004 - 11:26 AM.

[jordanarae]

We too have been hit by the dialer problem in Mississauga, Ontario.

4 calls, placed from May 24-27 to Sao Tome each 21 minutes in duration, at a charge of $65.94 each. Contacted Bell Canada today and their refusal to take the charges off were adamant but offered to discount 25% off of the bill. From $263.76 that leaves us with $197.82 in long distance charges alone.

2 people we contacted at Bell were aware of the problem while one supervisor we talked to was totally clueless about the situation. They obviously have not devised a concrete plan to deal with the customer complaints.

Our plan of action right now is to contact Bell Canada everyday until they are willing to reverse the charges. Will also be contacting local television news channel in effort to gain public awareness and force Bell Canada into action. Good times.

[gobolts]

yeah i've had many dialers load without warning, disconnect me and start dialing on their own. i've gotten pretty good at jumping up to unplug the phone line before they connect. usually the dialer program is easy enough to find and remove, but lately they are getting harder and harder to get rid of. so, i've gotten much more serious about it, especiallyafter DyFuCa installed itself on my kids computer.
the first time i got a dialer it was some german outfit a year or so back, i didn't really know what was going on at first (duh)and disconnected when i saw i'd lost my msn connection. when it got my phone bill it had a $60 dollar charge for a 3 minute call- which was made by the dialer. i was directed by the phone company (sprint) to try and settle the "dispute" with these folks (forgot their name) and they agreed to drop the charges, after i told them there was no way i was paying for it and i was reporting them to the BBB.
my problem really, is with the phone company, who steadfastly maintained that i would be held accountable for the charges they were making on behalf of the dialer people, until i resolved the matter. so, here there was, the giant communication company sprint, collecting for these lowlife scuzzbuckets who installed a hidden dialer on my computer, without my knowing about it.
well, i refused to pay the $60 for the 3 minute call on my sprint bill but paid the rest, and sprint charged me a late fee since i didn't pay the balance, even though i had 60 days to resolve the dispute.
finally, after a couple of months of haggling with them over the phone, i went to their website and was pleasantly surprised at their handling of the matter from that point on. i think they may have recently changed their policy on insisting that the charges be paid for immediately and then your account credited only after the charges are removed by the scuzzbuckets.

[systems/layers]

Hi,

I'm writing from New Zealand...
In January and February our account was being used by a ghost dialler to call the Cook Islands. The calls were short but continuous (every minute or so during their peak dialling), with a total of about 435 calls costing about $550 during February. There were a fewer number of calls in Jan - only about $250. Because we hardly used the computer in February this was only the result of one or two nights of the computer being left on! The dialler was also able to disconnect us from the net and immediately dial up; so even after we realised what was going on (and before it was fixed) we had to quickly pull out the modem cord if we heard it dialling up while we though we were online.

----warning, here i begin to rave about the moral obligations of internet providers so please ignore the writing below if you only wanted to know about the charges, thanks!-----

We are going to do our best to fight these charges, because we didn't conciously consent to installing this malicious programme and ihug (our server) made no attempt to guide us when we informed them of the problem. They even refused to block international calls staight away, because the account was not under my name! Clearly there is a third party involved and it should be up to the internet provider to invest money into improving security for its customers or, alternatively, track down the illegally-acting parties itself.

Bye,
Sarah

[gdgtgrl]

I had a 30-minute call to the Cook Islands on my bill that occurred on 4/5/2004. The charge was $201.30. I called Verizon to dispute the charge because I didn't know what it was. I talked to the customer service representative who tried to explain why I had the call. She claimed that the ISP had charged me but was unable to tell me who my ISP is. She then told me that it was a legitimate charge and I had to pay for it. Of course, I was angry and yelled a bit. After I got off the phone I researched the scam on various web sites. Spywareinfo.com was most useful. I decided to write a letter since I wasn't getting anywhere with the phone representative. I received a letter this past weekend from Verizon thanking me for investigating the scam on my own and stating that they would remove the charge from my bill. I'll wait to receive a new bill. I doubt, however, that they will remove the late charge that resulted because I refused to pay for that call.

To remove the Trojan I looked for executables with dates after 4/1. I hadn't used my PC in two months so it was easy to find them.

Good luck getting the governments to pay attention to this. The phone companies could do a lot to prevent this.

The Verizon rep said that I should notify my ISP to block international calls. I asked why Verizon couldn't do it and she said it was up to the ISP. That doesn't make sense at all.

Edited by gdgtgrl, 28 June 2004 - 06:38 PM.

[killspyprogrammers]

I was hit with a dialer a year or two ago. It would take control of my cpu without anyway to stop it. It would pop up some german looking program and then dial out. The only way I was able to stop it was to pull the line out of the wall.

After doing that I ended up with a one minute charge which came out to a few bucks. I called the phone company and had it removed. The rep didn't really give a shit. Said if it happened again that she wouldn't remove it, so I blocked all adult numbers from my line. She also said it was a company in africa. I suppose an african scam made to look german. Anyways, as mentioned, the phone companies don't really care.

[mikosha]

Hi ppl,
One more victim of dialer from Richmond Hill,Ontario.
Today I've got a bill form Bell Canada on $65.94.
The call was at June 19,2004 to number 2394413847 in Sao Tome, duration 21 minutes.
I used my friend's computer with ant-virus(Norton AntiVirus) and anti-spyware(Ad-Aware 6) installed and running.
As I understand from previous postings, I sould wait for more money waste, becouse I will not be able to know if there were calls like this till I'll get a new bill.
I've complained to Bell customer care and now waiting for there response.
If someone know what to do in this situation or if You are in the same trouble please contact me at Email address removed. Click the Email button below to send mail to mikosha

Edited by cnm, 01 July 2004 - 05:33 PM.

[HarryFromCanada]

hello .. as my user name states im from toronto

i live in niagara falls and my mother told me about this thing on the phone bill ... we phoned the phone company (bell canada) .. they told me it was an auto-dialer ... so im switching to broadband next month but its still cheesing me off ... until i get broadband im going do what the phone ppl said .. unplug the phone line when im not using it .. i also turned on my modem volume incase it starts to dial.

info about the bills

Jun 18 Sao Tome 2394413847 1minutes charges = 3.14 (canadain $)
this happen twice .. within 2 minutes (23.05 and 23.26)

So im as pissed as all of you are ... and ill fight this 8$ bill with everthing i got .... because the phone company said there whre more calls made recenttly ... so im really cheesed off.

i dont see how i even got this ... im a god damn techincian ... and the number 2394413847 dont even exsist on my computer currently .. but i can see how it i wouldn't find it.

[swift44]

I received my Qwest phone bill yesterday with 2 entries for a 900 number. 2 minutes each for $40 each. The calls were made on 28-Jun-2004 and corresponded to calls made to my dial-up ISP. On the same bill I also had 7 calls to 10-10-811 and 2 to 10-10-636 long distance dial-arounds for $2.38 each. Each call was 1 minute long and were all made within a 15 minute time frame on 28-June-2004.

[inessiki]

Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Sao Tome calls brought me over $400 debt to Bell Canada.
I spoke with them a few times and every time they promised me a manager would call me back, but so - nothing

[CyberRaptor]

My other computer is invincible to viruses. I have Linux.

[kartsia]

I've got ripped by the same Sao Tome and BELL of course does not give a damn about it.

They just forcing you to pay and not offering any solution. Why would they?? They are just making money on it.

BELL is not my long distance provider (I'm using calling cards), but it does not matter, they will charge you anyway, without any explanation.

Just try to talk to a manager from BELL! In your dreams pal, they are busy to count profits.

[jethro]

My latest phone bill had a $40 charge for a two minute call to this number: 900-444-0221. The description was "Invoserv".

[AJGOFF]

My latest phone bill had a $40 charge for a two minute call to this number: 900-444-0221.  The description was "Invoserv".

What did you have to do to remove this? I just recieved my phone bill with the EXACT same thing!

[cheglabratjoe]

AJGOFF,

Check out the FAQ for help with malware removal.

As for not paying the bill for the scam ... I would try raising an ever-increasing stink with the phone company.

Edited by cheglabratjoe, 17 April 2005 - 09:51 PM.

[dbradio]

June 20 1:58 PM est, 900-444-0221. Billed by INTEGRETEL for infoservices. Obviously a ghost dialer.

We're contesting and not paying and I will get to the highest supervisor to announce that they're aiding and abetting fraud. Also the FCC will hear from me as well as the bbb.

If anyone has any specific, real solutions to detecting and deleting, please holler.

Thank you

[kyleers]

A bit of hope here for some of you folks, hopefully.

I, too, was the victim of a dialer program. Up until today I had never heard of such a thing occurring, until I looked at my phone bill and had a $40 2 minute charge from Integretel. WHAT? $20/minute? I was livid, and I immediately googled the 900 number I supposedly called, and found the above post, so I knew it was a problem. I called Qwest, my phone company, and they told me I had to call Integretel directly to discuss the matter with them. And they said if it wasn't resolved, then I should call Qwest again and they'd get both Integretel and I on the line and we'd discuss it together.

So I called Integretel and was immediately put through to somebody after giving my phone number. He asked after my full name and my phone number again and that was all. Then he asked what the problem was. I explained that I had a $40 charge on my account and he went through his totally robotic, well-rehearsed scripted speech about how my phone number called the 900 number. I said I had never called a 900 number, then he told me that it had gone via my computer. I said I would never have dialed a 900 number on my computer. He said that they use ANI recognition, the same as 911 uses, to identify what phone number is making the call. So it was clearly my number that had called.

Throughout the call I ended up interrupting about three times to growl at him and he was totally unfazed, and simply said that he needed to finish his statement before we could resolve anything so I had to listen to his rubbish speech about how it was clearly my fault that the call had been made. I told him that it was not my problem if his company supported fraud by endorsing clients who used spyware direct dialer programs to sneak phone calls off of my phone line, and I would not be paying the bill. He said they do not have clients who use spyware and that a window pops up asking if you accept the terms, conditions, and charges, and that you have to press accept in order for the call to be placed. Ha ha ha, yeah right! I told him that I had never viewed such a window, nor would I have pressed 'okay' and given away $40 if I had. I was so mad I threatened to file a complaint with the attorney general, Better Business Bureau, and FCC in one breath.

At this point he offered to reduce the charge by 50%, to $20. I had read on other websites that this is Integretel's practice with an angry person calling, and I told him exactly that. No, I have read that you try to reduce the bill by half, and I do not accept that. I will never pay you anything, now remove the charges. So he said, "Miss _____, since you state that you have no knowledge of the calls placed, Integretel will remove the charges and place a block on your number from the 900 number client. We recommend that you call your phone company and asked them to block outgoing 900 calls from your phone number." Yeah, a fat lot of good that blocking my phone from calling that one particular client would do -- they probably have 4,999 other clients just chomping at the bit to have my computer spaz out and call them. I will definitely be calling my phone company after this and having them block 900 calls.

Looking back, I distinctly recall the day that the call was made, because my computer was having problems. The problems were, of course, with Internet Explorer suddenly crapping out popup windows like there was no tomorrow. Furthermore, webpages I went to had certain words now changed into links for "sponsors" at other sites. For example, I went to look at my bank account and the Wells Fargo says, "Brokerage is offered through Wells Fargo Investments," and something like the word "investments" would have been changed by the spyware to be a link to some shady investment website. This was, fortunately, taken care of by AdAware and AVG, both of which I recommend like there is no tomorrow. I have not had any problems since. I'm pretty sure the spyware came from one of those quiz sites (you know, like 'What Ninja Turtle Are You?' or whatever).

I know $40 is chump change compared to what I have read by some of you others on this post alone and I am so sorry that you guys have to deal with that, but I hope it gets resolved for you in a satisfactory manner (that is, the fraudulent company is forced to shove their bill where the sun don't shine, and you don't have to pay anything).

Cheers.

One more thing: Integretel's number is 1800-736-7500. If the company who charged you is them, I have fairly high faith that if you call them and argue with them enough, you can get the charges removed. Don't settle for 50%!

Edited by kyleers, 19 August 2005 - 02:47 PM.

[elimail]

kyleers:

My story is exactly the same as yours, I had some spyware in my computer in July, and I noticed twice something dialing out of my computer, and I stopped it but only after completing dialing, I was awaiting my bill assuming I will find some 900 Charge, and I did it was a $40 charge, $20 for each call, I called integretel and they tried to sell me the same story the told you, they also asked me if anybody else is living with me who might have called, always tell them "No" otherwise they will try to tell you that you are responsible even if somebody else caused it, I told them I will not argue with them, and they know exactly what I am talking about, and they sure do, and I did not settle for the 50% I told them its either 0$ or you hear from NYS district attorney, I am still waiting for my bill to reflect the credit.

[mystari]

kyleers and elimail -

I had this exact thing show up today on my phone bill. I called Integretel and got the EXACT same speech. I refused to pay and was told the charges would be credited 100%, and my number blocked. My computer spazzed out with pop windows and then crashed. He gave me the same answer, our clients don't use pop-ups, you had to accept. I told him I didn't and that their clients were blowing smoke up their a**.

I guess my question is this, did either of you actually receive credit? I called my phone co, Sprint, the girl that answered the phone said they were already paid, and I was in turn paying Sprint. I should pay the bill and keep an eye out for the credit. I have a hard time with this, just on principal. I didn't authorize the charges.....

Thanks,

[jim_55063]

A bit of hope here for some of you folks, hopefully.

I, too, was the victim of a dialer program. Up until today I had never heard of such a thing occurring, until I looked at my phone bill and had a $40 2 minute charge from Integretel. WHAT? $20/minute? I was livid, and I immediately googled the 900 number I supposedly called, and found the above post, so I knew it was a problem. I called Qwest, my phone company, and they told me I had to call Integretel directly to discuss the matter with them. And they said if it wasn't resolved, then I should call Qwest again and they'd get both Integretel and I on the line and we'd discuss it together.

So I called Integretel and was immediately put through to somebody after giving my phone number. He asked after my full name and my phone number again and that was all. Then he asked what the problem was. I explained that I had a $40 charge on my account and he went through his totally robotic, well-rehearsed scripted speech about how my phone number called the 900 number. I said I had never called a 900 number, then he told me that it had gone via my computer. I said I would never have dialed a 900 number on my computer. He said that they use ANI recognition, the same as 911 uses, to identify what phone number is making the call. So it was clearly my number that had called.

Throughout the call I ended up interrupting about three times to growl at him and he was totally unfazed, and simply said that he needed to finish his statement before we could resolve anything so I had to listen to his rubbish speech about how it was clearly my fault that the call had been made. I told him that it was not my problem if his company supported fraud by endorsing clients who used spyware direct dialer programs to sneak phone calls off of my phone line, and I would not be paying the bill. He said they do not have clients who use spyware and that a window pops up asking if you accept the terms, conditions, and charges, and that you have to press accept in order for the call to be placed. Ha ha ha, yeah right! I told him that I had never viewed such a window, nor would I have pressed 'okay' and given away $40 if I had. I was so mad I threatened to file a complaint with the attorney general, Better Business Bureau, and FCC in one breath.

At this point he offered to reduce the charge by 50%, to $20. I had read on other websites that this is Integretel's practice with an angry person calling, and I told him exactly that. No, I have read that you try to reduce the bill by half, and I do not accept that. I will never pay you anything, now remove the charges. So he said, "Miss _____, since you state that you have no knowledge of the calls placed, Integretel will remove the charges and place a block on your number from the 900 number client. We recommend that you call your phone company and asked them to block outgoing 900 calls from your phone number." Yeah, a fat lot of good that blocking my phone from calling that one particular client would do -- they probably have 4,999 other clients just chomping at the bit to have my computer spaz out and call them. I will definitely be calling my phone company after this and having them block 900 calls.

Looking back, I distinctly recall the day that the call was made, because my computer was having problems. The problems were, of course, with Internet Explorer suddenly crapping out popup windows like there was no tomorrow. Furthermore, webpages I went to had certain words now changed into links for "sponsors" at other sites. For example, I went to look at my bank account and the Wells Fargo says, "Brokerage is offered through Wells Fargo Investments," and something like the word "investments" would have been changed by the spyware to be a link to some shady investment website. This was, fortunately, taken care of by AdAware and AVG, both of which I recommend like there is no tomorrow. I have not had any problems since. I'm pretty sure the spyware came from one of those quiz sites (you know, like 'What Ninja Turtle Are You?' or whatever).

I know $40 is chump change compared to what I have read by some of you others on this post alone and I am so sorry that you guys have to deal with that, but I hope it gets resolved for you in a satisfactory manner (that is, the fraudulent company is forced to shove their bill where the sun don't shine, and you don't have to pay anything).

Cheers.

One more thing: Integretel's number is 1800-736-7500. If the company who charged you is them, I have fairly high faith that if you call them and argue with them enough, you can get the charges removed. Don't settle for 50%!

Thankyou for your post, I used it as a template for talking to the company and Integretel followed along also. Mine was also $40 for 2 minutes and they were on the recieving end of some yelling and threatening until the finally offered me the standard 50% off and I didn't stop until I got the "one time" 100% fee squashed. These people would walk all over you if they could and you just have to stand up for yourself. Thanks again!

[micaman]

A little different then yours but something to watch if people use your machines while you are not there. They may do something like this and not tell you.


Modem Redialing

by Shirley Rooker, Federal Trade Commission

A high-tech scenario: you log onto the Internet and visit an adult entertainment site; but first, you have to download a special viewer program. Your next phone bill is for thousands of dollars. What happened?

When you downloaded the viewer software, it disconnected your computer from your local internet service provider and reconnected the computer to a phone number in some other part of the world - all without your knowing what was going on, because the software turned off your modem speaker, so you couldn't hear the disconnect or the dialing of an international number.

And to compound the problem, the program did not disconnect from the international number until you turned off your computer.

Okay, so it hasn't happened to you yet - but it did to thousands of consumers who incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in international long distance charges.

[kyleers]

Thankyou for your post, I used it as a template for talking to the company and Integretel followed along also. Mine was also $40 for 2 minutes and they were on the recieving end of some yelling and threatening until the finally offered me the standard 50% off and I didn't stop until I got the "one time" 100% fee squashed. These people would walk all over you if they could and you just have to stand up for yourself. Thanks again!

Hello all,

Glad to hear that my post was of some help and that three of you were able to stand up against Integretel and get the charges removed.

I did, in fact, have the charges credited back to my account after one billing cycle.

They say it usually takes two bills for it to be removed.

I vaguely recall mention of another problem in that Integretel will try to say that both they AND the phone company credited you $40 (so that you were in effect credited $80) so now you owe them the $40... which is obviously load of b.s. as the phone company is the one who would deal with the charging and credited for Integretel, so Integretel doesn't actually do anything except say, "You owe us this." This hasn't happened to me (the person I read who said that said it happened about 6 months later) so... hopefully it will happen to none of us but be on the lookout for that. I got the feeling that it mostly had to do with how competent the person's phone company was and perhaps there was a bit of confusion and Integretel took advantage (what else is new). So just, as always, keep an eye on the phone bills when they come in.

Cheers,
Kylee

[GreenFoot]

How does this work?? I guess you must have 56k to be scammed like this? Do you have to click anywhere or is it self-installier/ing?

Oh ic....never mind that i just did a search.....pretty pretty awfull.

Edited by GreenFoot, 07 January 2006 - 10:02 AM.

[MoJo Risin&039;]

About a decade ago, a friend’s teenage son racked up $3200.00 in one month (Ouch) for long distance bills over his Internet pRon surfing. Click, click, click and they got you. One parent was a manager with the phone company and still couldn’t refute it. I told them to fight it, but they didn’t want to make waves. They paid it with a credit card. Lesson learned, monitor your child’s Internet activity. Don’t become a victim by trust.

[h4xork1d]

yes in the past i lost around 150$

[Budfred]

Oops! That reminds me, my ISP also attempted to hijack my computer according to HJT. I found O17 entries in my log and when I searched for the IP addresses, it came from my ISP.

Just because it is in a HJT log doesn't mean it is bad... Most entries are legit and need to be left alone... The O17 entries just indicate that it is your ISP, it isn't hijacking you, it is connecting you to the web...

[Indrid_Cold]

Oops! That reminds me, my ISP also attempted to hijack my computer according to HJT. I found O17 entries in my log and when I searched for the IP addresses, it came from my ISP.

Yikers! For someone that has been a Trainee for over 2 months now and, working practice logs, you may want to seriously consider reviewing a HijackThis tutorial.