It's not just porn sites you need to watch out for. Daniel of Iowa reports that some game sites are also victimizing users -- and he has some advice about what to do with that old modem:

I read with interest your report on the adult website scam, where a program is downloaded and proceeds to dial the user's modem to make international calls. A friend of mine recently found such a charge on her phone bill (the second, in fact, after calling the phone company to seek information on the call; the first was low enough so as not to arouse suspicion).

My friend questioned her teen age son about the matter. Together they did some investigating and discovered that the call was actually made from a GAME site aimed at children and teenagers. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm the name of the site, as some time had passed since the teenager visited and my friend was concerned about even trying to find it and inadvertently logging on to it again.

What is interesting is that the individuals in question have AtHome cable service. However, they neglected to disconnect their modems after the service was installed and thus the call was still made. Since the modem did not have the volume turned on, the teenager had no idea it was even being used.

So some words of caution: If you are using a modem (or if you have cable or DSL with an internal modem), either disconnect it or be certain the volume is turned on so that you can hear any unusual activity. And of course, warn your children about these sites. I believe if a child is underage, the phone company WILL honor a refund, but only on the first occasion

Kathy of Canada writes:
I have been having problems with my computer dialing the Internet everytime I turn it on. My computer supplier hasn't been able to solve the problem. After reading your lastest newsletter about this dialer.exe scam I checked my computer and bam there it was. Thank you again. Only thing is how the hell do you get rid of it? I would really appreciate any info on it.

If Kathy is running any of the recent Windows versions, there are settings that control whether the computer when the computer dials the modem. However, the standard settings don't include dialing the second the machine boots up. We think Kathy should ask her computer guy to back up her data, format her hard drive and install a new copy of Windows. Better yet -- get a cable modem or DSL, which eliminates the problem.

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Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

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