Micro Bill Systems beware…
Update (27 March 2008): MBS has now incorporated, or at least sold its technology, to Platte International. Take a look at the MBS Victims forum for much more information.
We’re on to your dodgy PC-killing tactics.
First take a read of Ask Jack’s blog in the Guardian Online.
While advertising popups often plague net users, Kenyon’s experience seemed worryingly different. He saw that the window was from a company in Leeds called Micro Bill Systems asking for £19.99, with the explanation that his computer had been used to sign up to a website. After suffering the annoying problem for some time, he emailed the Guardian for help.
Kenyon is always careful about protecting his PC. He was using fully updated Windows XP Professional along with Norton Internet Security 2007, Spybot Search & Destroy, AVG anti-spyware and Sophos anti-rootkit. He’d seen popups before but this one stayed longer each day, hindering his computer use. “The popup starts about 30 seconds after the PC is turned on and lasts for about four minutes before the window can be closed. While the bill is displayed, you cannot minimise it or open any other window in front of it, as it always hogs the top window slot,” he says.
Then the slightly bizarre exchange over at the Midtown Computer Systems Enterprise forum Microsoft Security forum, in which someone purporting to be from MBS defend themselves.
Not so, an eagle-eyed reader calls them out on one a clause in their rather dodgy terms and conditions:
You call the below professional ?
“11.6 IF YOU CHOOSE TO IGNORE THE PAYMENT REMINDERS AND DO NOT PAY THE REQUIRED MEMBERSHIP FEE, YOU HEREBY UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE PROMPT REMINDERS MIGHT BECOME MORE FREQUENT AND THAT YOU MIGHT LOSE THE ABILITY TO USE YOUR COMPUTER (I.E. ACCESSING THE INTERNET, ACCESSING YOUR FILES ETC.), UNTIL YOU HAVE SUBMITTED PAYMENT OR CONTACTED CUSTOMER SERVICES. WHILE YOUR COMPUTER IS CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET THE BILLING PROCESS WILL BE ENFORCABLE.”
Wow. Talk about blackmailing payment.
No doubt they have something going with some sleazy British backstreet ‘debt enforcement agency’ as well. They’re all slimy… at least the ones I’ve had the misfortune to deal with are (including the thugs that eBay UK use - having a fancy name doesn’t obscure who they really are)
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March 4th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
To be precise, the query first appeared in Ask Jack, but the piece you link to was written by Michael Pollitt and is rather more in-depth thank Jack’s original piece.
Thanks for the link to the forums, though.
March 16th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
I’m still interested in hearing from people who found the Micro Bill Systems popup disrupting their PCs even though they never visited the sexxxpassport website to sign-up.
March 20th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
dear Andy;
not able to delete MBS from my computer, they hacked into my security and Firewall, (Norton, Symantec). I blocked internet explorer 7 and they still went through firewall.
thank you,
elsa
April 18th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
i had this happen to me last night and i have upto date mcafee with all the trimmings i have never even heard of this firm or the site they say my computer has visited i also know this computer cant access these sort of sites as it has parental lock on it ive now emailed the company and asked them to remove there software from my pc i will let you know what happens
April 20th, 2007 at 9:44 am
I have had a problem recently with MBS, recently the ‘bill’ pop-up appeared on my PC. I searched instantly on the net as to why I was being asked for £19.99 and found many forums and discussions on MBS. I downloaded two anti pop-up/spy programs and since then I have not had the pop-up return.
As well as having the pop up MBS set up a short-cut on the desktop as some sort of ‘account’ that I could easily pay through and I found 7 viruses when running the new software on the computor connected to MBS - I now hopefully have deleted everything to do with MBS. It has changed my outlook on the internet drastically.
April 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Hi I’ve just received a pop up from micro billing systems for a website asking for a fee of £39.99 for a subscription for 3 months. How should I go about blocking these pop ups if you can? It’s a little concerning…….. please help!
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 am
hi, i have also got this pop up an dhave not found a way to get rid of it. has anyone got any ideas?
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I had this pop up on my screen as well, although I have never subscribed to anything like it. I seem to have got rid of it rather painlessly using the spyware removal tool(spython) in system mechanic 6 from iolo.com
April 25th, 2007 at 10:44 am
MBS is “ransomware” that downloads software onto your PC when you inadvertnly or otherwise visit one of their websites. The problem will get worse if you do not remove it as it will systematiclly block your computer more frequently as each day goes by!!!! The good news is that you can remove it by deleting the offending files for your system32 folder and removing the icon from your start up menu. the files will be date & time stamped from when you visited their site ie in the last three days and will be named MBSsm.32,mbsrm.3, UBSaythenticateAXC,ocx or something similar. remove all with the same date and time stamp and you should be ok. There is an in depth log on PC Advisor website.
good luck
April 26th, 2007 at 9:11 am
i have had the same problem with my computer. It is saying that i have a website account and i have to pay £39.99 for the transaction i believe this is a big money scheming scam. I am so annoyed that i dare not use my computer because it pops up about 1 min after i have turned my computer on. I have tryed deleting this from my computer but it says that i cannot. How do i get rid?? someone help me it is really annoying me!! Amy
April 26th, 2007 at 11:42 am
There appears to be a solution using system restore. I’ll post what I remember was done to resolve this on our pc. If anyone sees any flaws in this, please don’t hesitate to correct.
The switching off and switching on the System Restore points is pretty crucial, I understand.
Start > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
Select a Restore Point well before the activity
Restore System
Then System Restore Setting - turn off System Restore >OK
Come out, then go in and reverse (i.e. turn on System Restore >OK)
Fingers crossed, no more pop ups in the last few days, and a check of the system 32 folder (where the stuff was located) shows it to be clear.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Recently i have had the bill just pop up everytime i switch the computer on. I don’t know how to get rid of it?!!Its telling me to pay £39.99?I need help how to i get rid of it?
April 27th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
I had this problem, but solved it by using this method:
Task Manager –> Processes
Find MBS type programs that are running.
Do not just end the process, End process Tree by right clicking on it. Then immediately Delete all MBS affiliated programs from your System 32 Folder. Problem Solved!
Hope this helps. Con Artists the lot of them.
April 30th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
http://www.castlecops.com/postlite186801-.html
April 30th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
See above link for a guide on how to rid this. Beware of other methods as they might not exterminate this Trojan completely. And stop using the internet till it has been resolved!!!
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:07 pm
I went on my PC onday but then this pop up came up I was really worried because it was a very rude website it wouldn’t go away im only 15 so it gave me a huge shock I asked my dad and he kew so he googled it and it said that It was a fraud.
Its horribe how they can do this to you and its just not right my dad fixed it in the end but I hate the people that did it to my Laptop.
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:13 pm
It was a normal day so i went on my laptop the weird thing is that a pop up came, I thought so i will just exit it, I did but it just came back! and again and again it wouldnt go away it said I had been on a rude website but I hadent. I was a freaked out I couldn’t tell anyone because I am only 15.
I asked my dad and he knew that it was a load of junk so he just googled it and fixed it I still think it is meen to do that to people It is just not right!
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
An update on my earlier posting: it is now nearly two weeks since we cleared mbs off our system using the method I outlined above (which I was guided through by an IT expert) and there is no sign of it on the pc now. The method is a lot easier than others I’ve seen and the logic is sound. I’ll update if anything re-emerges.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
i turned on my pc today and i found this pop up on my computer when clicking the button to turn the internet on. it has worried me because i have seen what other people have said about it and i dont understand why the hells it on my computer.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I’m the journalist who wrote about Micro Bill Systems in the Guardian and, over the last two months, I’ve been regularly contacted for help.
What I know so far is this:
Nobody has provided proof that installation is without user consent, some people have complained to West Yorkshire Trading Standards, and a program called IE History View helps examine your browser history. Removal solutions reported by users include fhiufhyrefyer’s method and Prevx1. I’ll keep my blog post up-to-date with any detailed advice.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[…] Update 18 April: It’s worth keeping an eye on this thread (and now this thread too - 23 April, and this thread - 1 May, and this thread - 3 May) to see how other people have coped. I’m interested in hearing from anyone who reckons (and can help prove with an Internet Explorer history file- see above) that the Micro Bill Systems software installed silently - no warnings, no permission given. You can contact me via tech@guardian.co.uk or my e-mail address top left in the sidebar. Alternatively, please leave a comment on this post (it will be moderated). […]
May 6th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
hii the best way to get rid of this scam MBS is to download XsoftSpy SE it will locate the high risk files really quick the downloadable version wont delete the mbs but provide the location so you can manually delete it. ill let ya know if it pops up again..
May 7th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Read your mail re: MBS scam. thanks for the info. I got this pop-up a couple of weeks ago and thought my son had went onto a bad site and we ended up with the bill. I didn’t pay as I wanted to find out if it was a scam. Thanks again, you saved me £40. It has been removed for now. Hope it stays away. Nothing last for ever though.
Cheers
May 8th, 2007 at 11:31 am
I posted a couple of weeks ago saying that I had got rid of the problem using various spyware and adaware programs, at first the problem did indeed seem to go away however a week or so later the bill came back with a higher severity, also when looking at the bill by looking at the details of the bill and seeking for answers (trying to find out what I had ’signed-up’ too The bill value increased!
On one website I found a guy that decided enough was enough and he paid the £19.99 only for a month later the bill to come back for another £19.99 for the next months due subscription as he hadnt ‘cancelled’ his subscription! Its a big old scam.
I tried to do a system restore ie take the computor back to a date pre the first pop up however this didnt work and reverted to doing a resetting the computor (ie the same as the day I bought it) Basically I have to start all over again. But in the end it was worth it to stop the pop-ups which were staying on the comp for ages.
Don’t give in to these people they are SCUM (Probably Leeds United supporters!)
May 8th, 2007 at 11:37 am
You know I was with you until your last paragraph. No I don’t support Leeds United but I don’t think it’s fair to compare a dodgy porn-supported virus factory with genuine sports fans.
May 8th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Updating my earlier post on the (to date) successful method for removing MBS:
There appears to be a solution using system restore. I’ll post what I remember was done to resolve this on our pc. If anyone sees any flaws in this, please don’t hesitate to correct.
The switching off and switching on the System Restore points is pretty crucial, I understand.
Start > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore
Select a Restore Point well before the activity
Restore System
Then go into the Control Panel > System > System Restore
Check the box which turns off System Restore > OK to apply
Then do the reverse (i.e. Control Panel >System >System Restore > UNcheck the box > OK to apply ) This last action turns System Restore back on.
Fingers crossed, no more pop ups in the last few days, and a check of the system 32 folder (where the stuff was located) shows it to be clear
Please note that the turning system restore on and off needs to be done through the Control Panel.
May 8th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Andy lighten up a bit!!
May 8th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I’m perfectly light - that’s why I don’t bring myself down throwing around the word “scum” inappropriately.
May 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Just delete my post then Andy!! Jeeze it was an ‘off-the-cuff’ remark! Bang goes my dream of becoming a comedian…
May 9th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Yes I’m another unfortunate whose PC is plagued by MSB. Pretty sure it’s my own fault though, as my Norton antivirus ran out a month ago and hadn’t got round to updating yet.
I’m concerned about updating the antivirus as I will need to connect to the internet to do so, and whats more will have to provide my credit card details online. Also I need to get rid of the MSB popup and any related files.
Can you advise me what to do first, tackle MSB or update/grade Norton?
May 10th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
im 15 and scared dont know why im getting this mbs bill are they really scammers ? please help
May 10th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
will they really send debt collectors??
May 11th, 2007 at 10:21 am
WOW!- You guys are a god-sent! I was getting really concerned about this £39.99 bill which keeps popping up, so I ‘googled’ it and it came up with this page! I am so relieved…! My pop up does close if I click on it, but i’m scared it’ll get worse, like what you said…
Anyway thanks for the advice and I’l keep in touch!
May 11th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
thanks everyone i thought i was the only one getting this problem i payed ( stupid i know ) but in future no way. We should track them down, expose them,and take them too book.
May 11th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
gemma there not gonna send debt collectors i had the same problem and cleared it of my laptop by down loading avg anti spyware 7.5. it shud work for you aswell
May 12th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Can someone help, this MBS pop-up keeps asking me for £39.99. How do i get rid? Getting most concerned as it comes up all the time driving me insane. I googled this and came up with your page ,most relieved its not just me its happened to.
May 12th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
These people are a real menace. They are using intimidation to extort money and are probably contravening the “Computer Misuse Act, 1990″ section 3. I have e-mailed them 200 times to ask them to remove their pop-up software from my computer. Guess what? Nothing happened. I do know they read their e-mails because a query I sent about “my account” brought an instant response. I have reported them to the police; Consumer Direct and the Trading Standards office. MBS’s e-mails are: enquiries@microbillsys.com and support@microbillsys.com.
May 13th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
i had the same problem, the mbs popup wouldnt leave me alone, but now i am deleting its history through the processes in the task manager, just delete the tree and then istall some good spyware software and delete the cookies, so far, i have about 60, which is not good, ill keep ya posted…
May 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
We have also had this pop up on our pc asking for £39.99. I eventually managed to get through to them and they said we are liable to pay for it unless we get a crime reference number from the police to say our pc has been hacked, I have done this and have a crime reference number but now cannot get back through to them. I hold for ages (i mean 30 mins +) at national rate and still dont get anywhere. We have tried to remove it but with no luck. it just pops up again! Please help!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
I have had this also on my computer. i have emailed them loads and had no response.yesterday morning i did a system restore for 2 weeks previous, so far it hasnt been on my computer, but my heart is in my mouth everytime i go on it incase it starts coming back again. something must be done about this, it really makes people ill with worry.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
emma i also have the same problem, but how did u get in contact with them?if its telephone could u give me the number please?
May 14th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
the way to get rid of the pop ups is to use Prevx1
May 15th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Another update/reassurance on the System Restore method of removal. We’ve now gone past the four week point since we removed using the method described above and no return of pop ups. Do make sure, if you use this method, that you destroy other restore points at the same time, though of course you should turn system restore back on afterwards for when you next need it. If you’re not sure how to do that, I’m sure any half decent computer outlet could explain it to you. It’s not complicated, and it shouldn’t affect anything else on your pc. It’s always sensible to do a back up, particularly of crucial stuff (coursework, work in progress, that novel that’ll make your fortune!, etc.) beforehand.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Hi Lisa,
The number was on one of the bills that came up saying I need to contact them urgently to sort this out. The number is 0871 231 7374 then option 3. But I have called them 3 times now and only got through once. The first time I gave up after 30 minutes holding, the second time they answered after 15 minutes and yesterday I tried again but was cut off after holding for an hour!
May 15th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Oh and it is charged at national rate so im sure this is another way of making money!
May 15th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
tried ring mbs 1hour 15 mins hold stumbled on to this discussion by accident mbs are scum just glad we didnt pay they wanted 39.99
May 15th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
emma, wot did u have 2 do 2 get the police crime reference number?thanx for your help
May 15th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
After 200 e-mails etc (see above May 12th) and finally a threat of legal action MBS advised me “due to the fact that this [pay to view site] was only registered but never viewed, as a gesture of good will we have written off the bill”.
I had bought some software that can delete the MBS pop-ups a day or so ago. It seems to have cleared the problem & I deleted their intimidating software with “SpyNoMore” [http://www.spynomore.com/] before I received their message. Now, I hope, I have better protection than before. There may be other protection tools out there but this worked for me.
May 16th, 2007 at 8:43 am
I called the police and told them that I think my computer had been hacked, they took the details to pass on to their fraud squad and gave me a crime reference number. Not that its done me any good though because I cant get back through to mbs to tell them.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:05 am
i have had a bill from mbs that keeps popping up every day asking for payemant on a site i was redirected to. this site i could not shut down or leave so i had to shut my computer down. i have tried to contact the company but to no avail. also the payement system on the bill does not work. yesterday i got the bill on again and it remained locked for 10 minutes, stating that failure to pay will result in this matter being sent to a debt agency
May 16th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I had this MBS virus last week,it started with the bill being locked for a minute by the end of the week it was 10 minutes. It was driving me mad I ended up taking my PC to the local computer shop and they managed to get rid of it as my IT guy was away on holiday for that week. I am a small company and I use my PC for doing my employees wages and paying them by Bank Transfer. I have to say something must be done about this company they need tracking down.
May 17th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
i had a problem with mbs sayin i was download sexxxpassport, so i downloaded a trail of stopzill, where it doesn’t remove the problem, u can block it from damageing ur computer
May 17th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
i am also having problems and don’t know what to do. considoring i am only 14 and did not sign up for this over 18 mbs thing anyway. what can i do?
May 18th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
We too have been plagued by these evil pigs. We have security fitted on our computer, but they have got through it. After taking our boys to task over the possibility of them entering this crappy site, they;re in the clear, because they were all at work on the day they were meant to have logged in!
I rang MBS today and spoke to a particularly snotty irk who got most annoyed at me because I asked him to send me paperwork proving the name and address of the person who had logged in. Any other bill has a name and address on it! His reply was “because they signed up for a three day free trial, no names are needed” Yeh, right! No proof of sign up, I told the snotty irk, no payment. He then replied “have we asked you to pay it?” What’s the point in blocking my computer then, if we don’t have to pay the bill? What a scam. I would almost beg them to take me to court for this bill. When our computer is locked out, we lose business, so would love to see MBS fork out for lost wages!!! We will try the remedies given above, and hope that gets rid of these scavengers once and for all. Till then, internet is out of bounds to all of us!
May 18th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Perhaps Mark Webb might have something to say about it?
He registered the “microbillsys.com” domain name, though the own registered domain name for “Unique Billing Systems Ltd” leads to one of those stupid ad-laden holding pages.
Maybe he’d like to receive some letters of complaint:
6 Carlton Court
Brown Lane West
Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 6LT
UK
Or give him a call: 01132 432039
Maybe enough calls that tie up his life like the scummy software that ties up the victims named above, and countless others, will make him give a damn.
May 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Lets face it we are all dirty little wankers and we got caught out
May 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Speak for yourself you Steve you pathetic little cock.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
I also have the same problem!! They are useing an age old scam but the way it used to work before the net was to set up a mail order company selling sex toys that were faulty. when you ask for your money back they send you a cheque with the company name on it in BOLD i.e: “THE ANAL LUB COMPANY” so people are too embarrest to cash it in.
Just think how many people have paid to avoid having to explain?
May 18th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Alternatively if that phone number doesn’t work try 0870-880-5455 (warning this is not a standard number)
Scum that they are they appear to have registered their domain name using some else’s telephone number, but their companies house entry gives those details:
Trading As: U B S
Address: Unit 6 Carlton Court
Brown Lane West
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS12 6LT
Telephone: 0870-880-5455
Companies House
Registration Number: 4355673
May 19th, 2007 at 2:16 am
I have just done this and it works!! I cut and pasted it from pc advisor mag web site and it completely gone!! yay
I accept no repsonsibility for any damage monetry or otherwise from using the following information.
You can do all of this off line from the internet, infact i would adivse you to be DISCONNECTED when you do the following!
You need to disable an activeX control in your web browser for starters!
Ensure you are logged on as an adminstrator (in XP).
I did this on someone else computer because they started to get this and had no idea how it had started at all and the timer had got up to 9 minutes, this when the person needed to be study work for the course they were on!
I can not rember the exact names of files so please bear with me!
Goto the Tools menu and select Manage Add-ons…, this will open up an window, in here you will see a control that starts with mbs, mbs……., select it and then at the bottom click on the disable radio button.
This does not delete the item!
OK the window!
Now we need to go and see where the other items reside:
open up My Computer from the desktop!
if you can not see the windows folder in the following part, you will have to go into the Tools menu and then Folder Options, in the window that opens you need to go to the view tab. Here you need to go down and clik the radio button for “show hidden files and folders” you will find this under Hidden files and folders.
you will also need to unselect the tick box for “Hide extensions for know file types”. This will allow you see the extension .exe and .dll etc for what we will be looking for in a minute!
We need to goto into the c drive, then into the windows folder, from here we go into the system32 folder(XP).
That being: C:\WINDOWS\system32
In system32 we are looking for these two files:
mbsmon32.exe
mbsreg.exe
Click the toolbar to display the information as details instead of thumbs etc! This is important!
Note the date that these files were installed on the pc and click on the header bar to sort all of the files into date order when they were last modified.
Now look down the date column and find that date, you will see about 6 files i think, you will see the icons used by the two files above plus some others, one or two may be dll files!
NOTE ****
It is important to find the files on that date BUT ensure that the files you select all have the same TIME STAMP as mbsmon32.exe and mbsreg.exe, this will ensure you only pick the files that were installed with these two files!
****
note these files down and log off the computer!
Boot XP up and start pressing F8!
This will bring up a menu to boot XP in safe mode and into the all seeing administrator!
Choose to use ****** safe mode! *******
This will start and maintain a low resolution screen, this is ok.
At the log on choose the Administrator even if your user id (logon) has Admin rights!
A warning window will display on the screen, ok this and allow it fully load!
Now open my computer (or explorer) and goto the files we found earlier!
Those being in: C:\WINDOWS\system32
*** Remember the TIME STAMP ***
Select them and delete them!
Start up msconfig by going to the start button on the desktop ( bottom left) and goto run, in the box that appears, type msconfig and click ok. A window will open, goto the startup tab and untick the program identified as mbs…… ok that and allow the computer to reboot!
You can now delete the icon of the desktop and from the startup menu from the start button.
I hope this has cleared your ploblem and has been of some use!
This information has been given in good faith and it is your responsibility to do with it you see fit!
I accept no responsibility for any actions brought against you or third parties for use of the above information.
Good luck!
May 19th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I just used this method and it seems to have worked (fingers crossed). I’ve got to say this has definitely taught me a lesson to read more carefully before I agree to terms and conditions - however, I still think this company’s methods of extorting money from innocent (and randy!) people is just plain deceptive!
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:32 am
read paragraph 16 plus of the terms and conditions when the bill pops up again.. it says clearly: you die.
May 24th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Problem here too. Have contacted KCC Trading Standards and they have asked Leeds Trading Standards to intervene. Everyone seems to take it seriously but nobody seems to be able to sort it.
Has anyone got to the end of their 3 month subscription yet?
May 24th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
these robbing b!st/d& all i wanted was a bit of fun on my own and mbs wants to charge me £39.99, i can go to the corner of a street and get the works for £20
godlook trying to get rid of this virus peace
May 26th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Use Linux, then the cretins can’t write anything to the computer core.
May 26th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
What a nightmare!! I cant believe these fraudsters have the cheek to “bully” people into paying this £39.99 i accused my sisters boyfriend of signing up to a sex site while using my pc because of this! i think i owe him an apology!! I have been so worried about this for weeks im glad i found this site feel a lot better now.
May 29th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
All. I have just got off the phone to trading standards and they are very aware of this company and the problems they are causing. I have tracked them down to an address which trading standards have confirmed is the correct address. It is 14 Clifton Downs Road, Clifton Village, Bristol BS8 4BS. Trading Standards have taken a an official complaint from me and I have been advised to write to the company telling them that I am sueing them for damages giving them 2 weeks to respond. If I do not recieve a reply (which I do not expect to get from them). Then this gives the power to trading to act on my behalf. If everyone whos posted on this site did the same then TS would have the power to act against them and close them down. SO GO ON LODGE A COMPLAINT TODAY WITH YOUR LOCAL TS DEPARTMENT and lets get shot of these scammers today
May 30th, 2007 at 11:03 am
Just had the same problem and removed like this:
BEWARE - getting involved in regedit can be dangerous so follw this very carefully. G start/Run/Regedit and search (ctrl+f) for any occurrences of mbs. You will find at least one reference to mbs.exe or something like it. Obviously ignore occurences of mbs if those letters are part of another word (eg MThumbs Control ). The one you want is a refernece to an exe file. Delete it. Then do a search in explorer for mbs*.exe and delete those as well (I found 2 files in c:\windows\system32, but there could be more or less, and they could be somewhere else as well.) If you want to absolutely safe, put a minus sign at the beginning of the entry in the reg editor (this tells the computer to ignore it without deleting it) and rename the exe files you find in system32. This worked for me, although I have absolutely no idea how this crap got into the computer in the first place - the date on the exe files was a day on which as far as I know the computer remained off. The people who designed this are clever and ruthless. They should be prosecuted for fraud. Rest assured that plenty of people will have been successfully conned out of these payments. Good luck Rob.
May 31st, 2007 at 1:46 am
I got a subscription charge too from micro billing system for£39.99, for three months. Iwas crappin my self. There is a way of gettin rid of it without all these fancy antivirus programms. Restart your computer in safe mode, this stops any start up programmes from running, then locate any mbs32 files and delete them as you would normaly, then restart the computer in normal mode, and they should stop, this worked for me. let us kno if it works for any of you!
May 31st, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I am at my wits end, with MSB Norton want to charge me £69.95 to remove this THING. Can someone please explain to me how I can remove these icon from system 32 folder, as when I click to delete I am denied.
thanks
May 31st, 2007 at 8:18 pm
hi ive had a final warning they said it will be sent to a debt recovery agency in 7 days can they do this can anyone help
June 1st, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Gemma - please get in touch with me and tell me your story. I wrote another piece about MBS in the Guardian yesterday. You’ll find my e-mail address on my blog.
June 2nd, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Hi I have also got this parasite MBS BILL, with no visits to the sites indicated, I feal that some of the spam emails with attachements contain the link.
As a Yorkshireman living in Scotland I feel that thease little S**ts who have tried to obtain money by Threats need to be taught a lesson. As this site has given the address on Brown Lane in Leeds, my first thought was to make a few phone calls to eradicte the problem at it’s roots but on reflection it would be me who would be at fault and be prosicuted not this scum.
In my mind MBS are demanding money by threats/ intimidation and blackmail.
We have only two ways of resolving this situation.
1 Wait for Trading Standards or the Police to shut down this site (which I doubt will happen)
2 We play them at their own game and infect their web site/email address
Any comments
Dave
June 3rd, 2007 at 1:00 am
What does not seem to be covered in the media is the legaliy of pursuing the owner of the computer for alleged debt. I thought that to sue someone for debt, there has to be a contract between the parties, and I fail to see how the owner of a computer can be liable for the actions of someone else that may have used the computer. That would require explicit primary legislation.
Also, they are installing software without a removal facility. Has anyone contacted Microsoft to see whether they define this as malware such as to include its removal in the monthly malicious software removal tool that comes with Windows update?
June 4th, 2007 at 9:02 am
One question, They dont seem to have any personal details about the people they send these too. When I asked they said it was done by ip number and no details were entered. So, if thats the case then how would they know where to send the debt collectors too? How would they find out a personal address from an ip number?
I had an email from them asking for the payment as I had sent them one saying I wasnt paying. I have sent them my crime reference number by email and havent heard anything else from them.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I tried James’ solution to remove the pop up and it has worked - no more pop up. BUT running Spybot reveals a “regustry key” still lurking as a class ID HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/CLSID/{D2FAC024-92C….so if any of you have tried his solution it might be worth checking that everything has actually gone.
How can I get in and get rid of this? It also has an icon on what can only be described as a disintegrating cube. What is this?
Since contacting Kent Trading Standards, I have received a letter from MBS demanding payment. Would they have been able to get my address any other way?
I’m still “Just Sane” but breaking down fast…
June 4th, 2007 at 10:53 am
Im sorry to say that i also had this problem.But as i need my computer is part of my working life i had no other choice to hand over the money.But then i didnt relise this was a bogus company and i just put this down to someone else logging on to this sex site as i was racking my brain to trying to think who could of looked at these horrible sites .After reading all these complaints i now know that the bill was bogus and feel greatly annoyed that some little shit has got my £40.Now i will not stop until someone takes action against these horrible people and they are rightly punished for illegally hacking into everyones computer.How can these theives get away with stuff like this is beyond me.I actually felt like going to the address on the bill and giving everyone linked to this company a dam good kicking they all deserve.
June 4th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
OK ther is a problem with MBS so can anyone tell me how to get all the people who have had problems with this site to simutanasly send emails to the company and its looks as there are thousands. How do we do this to crash theeir server, or do we take their files rename them and send them back.
Any Ideas
Dave
June 4th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Having spoken to our IT in house, system restore is a must to be disabled.
As yet we have not cum up with a virus to infect there server but only hours away now.
Best advice disable system recovery then:
restart
F8
safe mode
lookin c:windows\system32
delete anything mbs
make a note of file names
restart
in the run file regedit
ctrl: f
delete (any entries with same file name as noted)
good luck
Also http://www.avg.com
dowload spy ware wil come up with mbs as malware
restart as yet ok.
We are comming 4 u MBS BIG TIME Trading standards Serious fraud squade no return at companies house is no excusee.
Hopefully directors have moved house since regestring at companies house because there home address is next.
Bastards Good luck all
Al
June 5th, 2007 at 8:15 am
I have been infected by this MBS. I am loving reading this. I really hope you all manage to do something to get them.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Great stuff these theiving gits need to be dealt with.We need to find a way to get everyone involved to come together so we can battle these w*****s.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Sadly last week my daughter fell victim to MBS, she panicked and paid the £39.99 charge with her mothers debit card! She is now grounded forever, the debit card has been cancelled so they cannot take any more money and I have written to them demanding our money back. I am not holding my breath on that one. I have also contacted BBC Watchdog but will also contact my local trading standards. There’s a lot of useful info on this site and I will use it to remove the bastards from my daughters PC.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
I also had this problem and tried the solutions that were posted, but the problem is if you are not the administrator then th F8 KEY will not work.
This next sequance worked for me.
If you have not got administrator rights and because to ask for them would cause problems there seams to be a solution.
1 Let the MBS Bill lock your computer for 5 mins then close the window.
2 Go to My Computer open the Windows Folder open it then go to the system 32 folder open it, look at the period approx 3 days before the bill appeared on your PC. There will be 6 files, 4 of them can be deleted 2 will not, this is where the solutin starts.
3 The 2 Files that will not remove right click on them and then go to properties change the files attribute from Archive to read only.
4 Then create a folder in my doucuments called Rubbish or Crap
5 Click the first file and choose the option on the left to move to a folder and move it to the Rubish Folder in my documents. Do the same with the second file.
You then have a folder in my documents that cannot be deleted the soluition as of yet I have not been able to find, but the point is this MBS PARASITIC/BLACKMAILING/INTIMIDATING/THREATING SCUM have no more control of my PC all bieng well
June 5th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
As i foolishly paid these scum (luckily by postal order)the bill disappeared from my computer but the files were still there.Today my computer crashed and even when i rebooted it,it still wouldnt work.So i had to restore the computer to its original factory settings by doing a complete restore.Now there are no signs of their programs in system32 or anywhere else for that matter.Dont know if this will be any help to anyone but it worked for me .
June 5th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Just one more thing.Have been recently reading another forum called pc advisor and would just like to know why the forum editor and kate b from the guardian constantly keep defending these scum saying they are in the right.I am greatly annoyed at there comments and feel if this had happened to them they would have a different point of view.Another thing mbs are taking the pith by posting on these forums saying what they do is legal and ok,so how come they dont reply to any complaints or queries?They also state on these forums that before you download their software you get three warnungs.What a load of tosh!Everyone involved needs to complain to watchdog at least then we might get heard and something might finally get done and these w*****s might get prosecuted.
June 6th, 2007 at 6:51 am
MBS may technically be doing nothing illegal, thanks to the wonders of all their small print, and how quickly things happen online, but I’m also convinced that a lot of people have suffered because of viruses.
MBS continue to say that their software is not malware, but surely even if I knowingly download software, I shouldn’t expect it to cripple my computer?
If I download a program, and it causes havoc on my PC, I’ll uninstall it. This software has been designed to gradually eat away at system resources, and MBS’s website admits as much. I don’t see how this is legal, regardless of whether it’s being used for collecting money. That’d be like bailiffs standing outside your house, and day after day making it more difficult for you to get into your house.
I’ve not seen anyone defending MBS here though I know some do. I haven’t censored any comments so if anyone wants to defend them, feel free.
June 6th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Andy
What in your opinion will MBS do if you don’t pay? Lots of people seem to be removing it from their computer without paying. Are MBS likely to follow it up? I am guessing the cost that they will incur would be quite large and also they would need to come clean about the methods that they are using. As many here I have fallen foul to this and like all it has disturbed me greatly.
June 6th, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Its just the way they go about things that bug me and the way they are allowed to interfer with your computer.Before i had this bill come up my system was running fine,but since it came up ive had no end of problems.The computer keeps crashing and freezing.I even had to restore it to factory settings as i actually couldnt do anything with it.I couldnt access my documents or my computer or even get online.Is this just a coiencidence?(sorry didnt know how to spell it)I also wanted to know are they liable and could i sue them for damages?As i lost alot of unsaved data because i couldnt save it before i restored my com.I really do hope that some sort of authoritytakes notice of all these complaints and does something.I dont think everybody is lying about not looking at these so called sex sites and something must be amiss!
June 6th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Also if you dont pay MBS cant do anything as they only hvae your ip address which only links you to your nearest city.So what ever you do do not hand over any details.That is unless you have actually been to these sites by accident or otherwise then im afraid you have no choice then to pay.There is no shame looking at porn,bloody everyone does it whether they admit to it or not.But unlike most other porn sites the ones they bill you on you dont have to put your card details in,so its very easy for young minors to gain access which is a problem.
June 7th, 2007 at 8:41 am
You know the problem is I think that others may have been on the website I’m not sure how easy it is just to get this come up on your computer. Its just the underhanded way it has happened. If MBS have a log of you going on their website then in their eyes you have looked and therefore should pay. The problem is how are they going to follow it up.
June 7th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I dont think MBS will take action against anyone who doesnt pay,simply because of the costs involved .Also dont be attimated buy their constant threats of saying they will past this debt onto a debt agency as they cant do anything if they dont have your details.Im only saying dont pay them if your 100% sure that you have not visted these web sites.I had to pay as i could not confirm that anyone using my computer didnt visit these sites,as its not only just me who has access to my computer.But i think it should be up to MBS to actually prove that you did visit these sites and not up to us to prove that we didnt.
June 7th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I am concerned with this attitude that people are concerned about what MBS will do if you dont dont pay the scum for their so called software download.
Does anyone actualy know what was downloaded and its content, or the terms and conditions. If I go into any shop and agree to by an item I get a vat receipt and a description of exactly what I have purchaced. Also I dont get the goods untill I have paid, so how can this set of low level scum request payments from people who have no idea what they have downlowded either by accident or email attachments.
Is it because the nature of the so called content of there demands that people think that it is not worth trying to do anything about this company.
As a victim myself none of the sites described were visited and I am sure that a large % of other people are in the same boat.
So do we debate on forums or find someway of trying to to stop this blackmail, it would appear that Trading Standards, Police etc are not interested so what next.
Any comments
June 7th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
I did suggest in one of my comments earlier that all people involve complain to bbc watchdog as trading standards or the police are simply not interested.Im sure that if they received enough complaints maybe just maybe they might take an interest and look further into this.I really cant believe that every single person complaining about MBS and saying they have never visited these sites are lying.But i really do hope that someone with authority takes notice.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Check out the PC advisor forum. Lots of work going on there. Some questions are getting answered. Sorry if I am not supposed to redirect people but I feel that this is important.
June 8th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Hi, you can redirect people wherever there’s important stuff going on. I don’t have a monopoly on this!
June 8th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Stuart,
With respect your comments as regards people lying about never visiting the sites that MBS are lying in wait to extract money I find insulting, have you pesonaly visited thease sites, if you have then you pays your money and takes your pick.
To generalise all people that have encounted this problem have done so by their willingness to activly search for these sites you are insulting a vast amount of people who have not set out to view these sites
Dave
June 8th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
In response to david.
I think you have miss read my comment what i said was that there are to many complaints on this issue that at least some peoplr must be telling the truth that they never visited these sites.I know that some peolple proberly have but are to ashamed to admit it.I didnt say everyone was lying so i think an apologly is in order and next time get your facts straight and actually read these comments carefully.Im am actually trying to help as i to am a victim.An example where i come from there have been many sitings of a large wild cat possibly a panther or jaguar,now are you telling me that everyone who has spotted this large beast is eithier lying or mistaken i think not there must be something amiss as with MBS.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
david
If you care to read above my comment was
“I really cant beleive that every single person complaining about MBS are saying they have never visted these sites are lying”
I may not have put it the best way but if you read it carefully you get the jist of what i mean.
thank you.
June 8th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Also i have visited these sites and no you dont pay any money or have to put in any details that is where the problem lies and its very easy for minors to gain access.With all other sex sites you are asked to enter your card details before you get access so you always know what your getting and cannot be mistaken unlike these sites MBS bill you on.With what other product do you get first then pay afterit isnt right .
June 8th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
I am saying exactly what miros is saying on the pc advisor forum david.
June 9th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Stuart,
I have read your comments on my post and you have some valid points that I will agree with, but the question of an appoligy for my comments, I will appologise if I was out of order and as it stands I have not called anyone a liar.
You are correct there might be a percentage of people who have visited thease sites and will hide behind the the problems of the many, and as you I was a victim I managed to get rid of it, some people are not so fortunate and as in your case have parted with the cash.
Stuart lets not get into a war of words about he said this and someone else said that, do you not think if we all pull together we can find a soloution for everyone regardles of how this Paracitic MBS has appeared.
Stuart let me know your thoughts
Regards Dave
June 9th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Yep your spot on david.But as we know people like to moan about things but never take any action,its just the british way im afraid .We always put up with this sort of thing and let ourselves get treated like crap.
P.S Sorry to have a go mate
June 9th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
omg!!!!!!! i cant belive this crap! lol ive been looking for a way to get rid of this stupid! MBS crap ive look at well over 30 forums and people think they no how to get rid of it but so far i cant find a suitable way to gettin rid of it these MBS people MUST DIE! hahah lol this is ball though u have to admit iam only 16 y.o and obviously iam not aloud on these types of site but obviously between us i do but this MBS THING hasnt got anything to do with what ive been doing is says its from a site called MYSEXWORLD or something??? lol but anyway someone has to help me get this crap off my computer because the lock timer thing is adding up and its up to 12 mins and 30 seconds!!!
June 10th, 2007 at 8:10 am
Well little boy do your parents know?I very much doubt it.Try looking on a forum on pc advisor,there is a post by fhiufhyrefyer which should help,if you have half a brain that is by the sounds of it im not to sure lol.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Well said Stuart
Not to sure of the content of lol’s content, but will keep my thoughts to myself
Dave
June 11th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
You keep annoying me with the same popup bill for £39.99.I never subscribed to sexxxpassport as i told you on the phone and i am there fore not prepared to pay for it.I will never use it and i’m not intrested at all.When will you stop because i am close to telling my solicitor.I have found a web site called “andymerret.co.uk which lists maybe 100 people complaining about MBS in the same situation as me.It seems your system must be faulty or i dont know what.Anay way please stop the popups as i cant use my computer otherwise,and i am seriously not prepared to pay that sum of money for nothing.Please react to this complaint.
June 12th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
John,
Your post on this site seams to have been directed to Mbs and not a comment to the site,
Have you mistakenly sent it to this site
June 13th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Hi, Have same problem as all others on here. No one in my house has been on this site, how it got onto my p.c I don’t know. Surely they need a contact address, or at the least bank details before they can say you are liable to pay for this service, what are the legalaties of this? Has anyone ever had debt collectors call over one of these so called bills? Was very worried when first saw the pop ups on my p.c, thanks for quashing my worries.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:06 am
ive just found this thing on my computer too! what a nightmare. I paid the £39.99 to try and get rid of it but then searched it and saw what problems is had caused and cancelled my card. Im so worried about this, so could anyone give me some advice on what to do?
Thanks
Jenny
June 14th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Jenny and others: You might wish to look at the various forum threads on PC Advisor’s website who are talking about this. If this is illegal or unfair, I imagine something will ‘happen’ to progress the concerns you’ve raised. People are having to be very careful what they say as these forums are all public, which means the company in question can also view comments.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:16 am
My laptop has fallen fould to MBS - I’m so upset about it - I noticed a mysexworld icon on my desktop last week decided my husband was a pervert and doubled clicked on it. Yes it was porn so I closed it, accused him of being a perv but said he knew nothing about it. Then the MBS windows arrived. I called these people who said my computer registered for the site at 9.20am 3rd June and agreed to install the MBS software, it was again accessed at 9.30am, and again at 20.38 on the 6th June (me checking what it was). I’ve checked all my start logs, cookies and Internet history and my laptop wasn’t even turned on at that time on the 3rd June. I have deleted the mysexworld icon but I’m so upset these people might come looking for money - it’s a year subscription at £39.99 for 90 days and apparently according to the scumball on the fone there’s a charge to cancel the subscription. He advised about the crime number but said I had to write to the appeals department but what then ? They’ll have my address
June 14th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Have a look at this website, Sue.
http://michaelpollitt.com/wordpress/?p=142
June 14th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
I only just occured this problem this morning, studpidly paid the £39.99 as was worried sick and panicked a bit. i since then saw all of this and problems and it being a scam and have since cancelled my debit card. I restored my system back a few weeks, which seemed to solve the problem, as didnt find any of the named files int he system 32 file. I have since downloaded AVG Spyware 7.5 and its detected 1 trojen - whether this is it, i am not sure. But no more pop-ups or bills on the sreen. Just worried now when they dont get thier money they will come hunting. Although im sure they have not received money in most cases. It would be greatly appreciated if someone with a similar story could get in touch to just settle my mind. I am still extremely worried that my computer will be ruined eventually. Many thanks Jenny
June 14th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Hi Sussex,
Your comments are noted and if MBS are reading this forum then good, this slime need to be aware that their activities to try and extract money from inocient people by blackmail and threats is totally wrong and if only I was closer I would be at their door in Brown Lane in Leeds with people that could have a reasonable chat with this company. If MBS have the time to visit this forum then you will understand that people are fed up with your threats and maybee you will be on the receiving end as people know your address to send the authorities to question the methords of obtaining monies by deception
MBS you might think you have created the perfect Scam, but there are more intelegent IT people out there than you
June 14th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
only just occured this problem this morning, studpidly paid the £39.99 as was worried sick and panicked a bit. i since then saw all of this and problems and it being a scam and have since cancelled my debit card. I restored my system back a few weeks, which seemed to solve the problem, as didnt find any of the named files int he system 32 file. I have since downloaded AVG Spyware 7.5 and its detected 1 trojen - whether this is it, i am not sure. But no more pop-ups or bills on the sreen. Just worried now when they dont get thier money they will come hunting. Although im sure they have not received money in most cases. It would be greatly appreciated if someone with a similar story could get in touch to just settle my mind. I am still extremely worried that my computer will be ruined eventually. Many thanks Jenny
June 14th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
i too have experienced this MBS problem luckily the system resore worked for my PC but i was so scared about this pop-up telling me that i owed some company money. i just wanna say that MBS should be taken down!!!
June 14th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Hey,
I have contacted trading standards about this MBS bill and the person i spoke 2 said they wud b very interested in seeing the section of terms and conditions that specifically says ‘you die’.if any of you have still got the bill on your computer and can access their terms and conditions on the bill, find the section that includes this (i think it is paragraph 16 plus of the t&c)and print screen it into a saved document.if i send this info to trading standards they said they may be able to do something about this as this is considered a death threat and nobody can work like that.if anyone can do this it will be an extreme help.please send the saved document to my email address: makes_.me._wonder@hotmail.com if anyone can do this for me it will be most appreciated.they have also contacted the TS in Leeds and are said to be trying to do something about this.please could some1 send the print screen of the death threat to me as this cud greatly increase our chances of getting these scumbags.thanks.
June 15th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I am so glad to see this site as I have been having problems with these pop ups for a week. I have actually disconnected my computer as every time I go on it I get the pop ups and am unable to do anything else because of them. I have sent this from my work because I am unable to work with my home computer and frightened to have it connected because of the name of the site they say I registered with. I know there is no way I would have logged onto a site like that even the name puts me off without knowing what is in it.
How do we stop this from happening?
June 15th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Lisa: Are you sure that’s what was said? When somebody earlier on used that term, I took it to mean that the Ts & Cs had that effect (i.e. your computer would become increasingly difficult to use). However, not having seen their terms, I wouldn’t know anything more than I’ve read on forums.
If anyone does have a copy of these terms and conditions, it might be useful for all those who are interested in this topic to have them available, though. If this is the case, perhaps they could be posted somewhere and linked here?
June 15th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Margaret Reid (and others): Have you tried contacting consumer programmes? There are various about, including at national level (radio, etc.) - they may be interested.
June 15th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Margaret - i found this on my computer too yesterday and managed to get rid of and so far all is good and havn’t had pop-up’s return.
What i did was to restore my system back to when it was behaving normally, so i restored it back to about a month ago. Make sure anything you have done on your computer in the past month that you wish to keep is saved on a momory stick or some other device as you will loose this.
If you go into “Start” … “programmes” ‘acessories’ and ’system tools’ then ’system restore’ and follow the instructions this shouls work.
However the trojen that infects your computer may still be present. So i downloaded AVG Anti Spywear and it did infact find a trojen, that was probably linked with the problem.
If this doesn’t work try this link
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=261874&forumid=1&sr=1 and look at what fhiufhyrefyer has said. Alot of people have found this a great help.
let me know if you manage to get rid of it.
Regards
Jenny
June 15th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Jenny: System restore does work, provided all previous restore points are removed after the restore, then turn system restore back on.
There is more detail about this on Michael Pollit’s site.
June 15th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Hi there, Restore is the way to go. then send mail to the po box of this cretinous company,WITHOUT STAMPS, AND PARCELS THEY WILL HAVE TO PAY THE POSTAGE, LETS GIVE THEM SOME OF THEIR OWN BACK
June 15th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
hi mark the mail PAYMENT FROM AND MAKE UP A FICTITIOUS NAME, THE MORE YOU DO THE MORE THEY PAY, THEY WONT DESTROY THE MAIL BECAUSE IT COULD CONTAIN POSTAL ORDERS, GIVE THEM HELL.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
ok thanks, i think i did this when i did it yesterday, i hope i did anyway. Many Thanks
June 15th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Brian Batt - I love your humour!
June 16th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Go for Brian’s idea
June 16th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Thanks Sussex for the Michael Pollitt link. I can’t find any history at all from MBS and the only history from mysexworld is when I clicked on the icon I found on my desktop which seemed to log me on and enter the members arena (3 history items). To remove I tried AVG Spyware, that didn’t work for me but Prevx 2.0 did (so far), so thanks to them. I had to fiddle with my McAfee services startup (set to manual instead of automatic) to get it to work.
Go for Brian Batt’s idea - I have cats I can post them the same sort of s**t they’ve given the rest of us. (sorry I’m not normally that crude)
June 16th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Suzanne: Would you consider sending in your IE history to interested parties who are trying to research this? Look at PC Advisor and Michael Pollitt’s site, where there are ways to contact them.
June 16th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
i recently have been affected by this bug too, requesting a sum of £39.99, and have been told if i don’t pay debt collectors will be sent to my house. (the terms and conditions say you’re 18+ but i’m not, and also if your pc was solen at the time, you have to pay, if you die, you have to pay…)
i’ve tried deleting the files, i’ve emailed and they haven’t replied. i refuse to call the phone line as it’s premium rate, and i’ve no doubt i’ll be put on hold for hours.
I’m 16 years old and seriously ill, i need my computer to study for my exams and it’s the only way i have outside contact but have been unable too as the popups won’t go away.
any help would be appreciated…
June 16th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Hannah,
I receommend that you try the system restore or removal option detailed above.
It’s impossible for them to trace your real address from the Internet address your PC uses. The only way they’d get it is if someone put your information in to a form somewhere. That doesn’t help to get rid of the pop ups, though. I hope you manage to find help to remove them - I don’t use a PC and haven’t had this problem so I can’t personally help, but others say their solutions work.
June 16th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Have you seen the crap they’ve posted on that forum link?
MBS Forum Information
Dear Forum
We read and note the comments of this forum and would like to offer the following advice
MBS is an independent billing company that provides billing and collection services to websites worldwide. Many of our client’ sites are either age restricted (by consent) or of an adult nature.
The software that has been described on this forum can ONLY be downloaded from visiting one
of our clients sites. Our software is not spyware nor is it embedded as a trojan.
You, or a user of your computer, will have agreed to terms and conditions then voluntarily downloaded the software to gain access to the site. In the interest of privacy, we do not ask for email addresses or credit card details to do this.
Our system is based on honesty and we expect all people who access our clients sites to pay when the bills are first shown. These bills can be closed, do not stay visible or interfere with the computer.
Unfortunately, only when people ignore the bills, do not contact us or do not pay, we have to display the bills in a more persistent way.
We always provide access to a help email address and aim to respond to enquiries within 48 hrs.
If you have a genuine query and do not understand why you have received a bill, please contact us at billing@microbillsys.com and quote the mbs reference number starting MBS-043- which can be found on your bill.
Alternatively write to us quoting the above reference at:
MBS Information
PO Box 185
Leeds
LS12 9AJ
——–
What a load of crap. No legitimate business only operates from a PO Box number (mind you, that’s the place to send your cat sh!t, Suzanne. Having had cats myself I know that’ll pong badly.
And still no mention of how they reckon they can get hold of your address to send round the bailiffs. It’s all lies and smoke screen.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I help out on numerous anti-spyware forums and this pest is extremely prevelant especially on the UK based sites. As a result, the issue has been brought to the attention of well known spyware veteran Pieter Arntz (AKA Metallica) who graciously agreed to write and maintain a removal script for use with Merjin’s Brute Force Uninstaller tool. New variants will be added within days of being spotted thanks to the way the anti-spyware community works together to beat these crooks. Removal instructions can be found at Virus Vault Security Forums:
http://tinyurl.com/2zb2uj
June 17th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
John McKenna: Would you pass on thanks to Pieter Arntz for his interest and work on providing a solution? While I haven’t yet had cause to use it, I’m sure this will be a great help to current, and potential future, victims of this unfair method of billing.
June 17th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I have had this virus for three months - i have been following this blog and was reticent about going for one of the restore solutions until i could back up everything on an external hard drive- however the virus ate hrough various spyware that i tried. I think and hope (!) that I have removed this now using Prevx 2.0 which was mentioned on this site - this identified and deleted the mbs32.exe files that i couldn’t delete manually. I have now seen today’s post about a new uninstaller tool which i will try if Prevx doesn’t work long term.
Thanks for those who have spent the time to share their solution to this problem!
June 17th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Thanks for all the information
especially more details
apparently the MD is Ashley Bateup I would love more details
I was going to pay up and hope they went away but from the sound of it even this doeesnt work with the MBS scumbags
I will be calling trading standards in Yorkshire to get a reference no and join the campaign, and seeing a techie friend to ensure that the advice on this site is followed
cheers
June 18th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Woofledust - As you’ve found this site, you may also want to look at Michael Pollitt’s site http://michaelpollitt.com/wordpress/?p=142
June 18th, 2007 at 9:30 am
thanks
I have already contacted Michael, essentially, it is a problem that no one so far has proved that the scumware was downloaded without their consent, if one person does this their argument is over,
the editor of PC advisor considers their organisation repellent, it’s just not (yet) illegal
a
June 18th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Yes, Woofledust, I’m aware of that. That’s why there’s a need for others to send in their IE history for examination.
June 18th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Sorry, Woofledust, I’ve just realised you already had a posting on MP’s site.