Hi First, thank you very much for allowing me to join your community. I am fairly new to MTurk and I am so grateful you are sharing your experiences. I hope to become a positve source of information for your community. I just had to pay Norton 99.99 to rid my computer of a couple of virus. the computer started acting up about 2 or 3 weeks ago, about the time I joined MTurk. What precautions can I take to make sure I am not "losing" the money I make? The virus were called "zeroacess" and "fakesys". Any guidance or thoughts are appreciated.
Welcome to the forum I am sorry I don't know about the viruses you have mentioned in your post but you have to be aware of some hacker that can get into your PC and may steal your account, you can search google about security tips and guidance like in this site http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/25-internet-security-tips-907003
Firstly, clean your PC and have an antivirus program running at all times, I assume you purchased Norton which is good, use it. Secondly use adblock or adblock plus for your browser, as the name suggests , adblock will block ads, ads can sometimes spread malware. There is no adblock for Internet Explorer as far as I know, but I do recommend you use Chrome or Firefox and never Internet explorer, those browsers are better and safer. Finally browse carefully, do not download random bullshit you find online if it's not from a trusted source. Also, do not download programs in mturk jobs even if it prompts you to, it's against the mturk policy and you should report a HIT that asks you to download something. If you are a pirate, find a trusted source for your torrents, do not use frostwire or other dc++ clients/services; Try getting an invitation to a private torrenting community or use the pbay.
Good advise But there is no stopping the power of a obstinate 12 year old girl who despite being told not to Still downloads all these stupid free games that come with adware, search engines and back ground processes
Thank you acustic. In fact I did download a file on Mturk! At least that explains it, because I am a newbie (and possibly have an inner obstinate 12 year old girl LOL!Thanks Danthony I need a giggle) I did as instructed. Thanks for clarifying no downloads in Mtruk. Also, I was running Norton when I got the virus. Norton told me that if I click on a file/download and then have to "accept or agree to" the end user license (which I know I had to at least click "run"), it will bypass Norton because I am "accepting" the user agreement. Ugh....live and learn
Well, when you see a download, try to think this way: Is it too good to be true? -No -> Can I trust the site that provides this download? -No -> Do not download it. -Yes -> Download it -Yes -> Then it's not true. -Maybe -> Not sure? do some research, see who makes the app and what other people say about it in reviews. -Too lazy to read reviews -> Don't download.