Serious question.

Is it enough for someone to just plug a USB in your computer or does that person need to actually DL what's on the USB and then execute something on your HD while you're not around/looking?

Let's say that whenever you're not at your computer it's on stand by with password required to log back in, can someone **** with it or is it safe?

If someone:

1) has physical access to your machine, and

2) knows what they're doing...

they own it.

They would need to execute the program to install it or copy it to the computer and place something in the registry to launch it at boot up/log in.

Locking your computer and using strong passwords is better. Encrypting the drive is even better. The more safeguards in place, the longer it'll take someone to break in which would allow you to catch them in the act.

But someone you know and possibly trust just needs to go 'Hey, can i check my emails on your computer real quick?' and they have access to your PC.

I'd advise not letting anyone use your poker pc but there are lots of other ways through the internet and/or email that could trick you into installing something without your knowledge.

Wow, I am shocked to hear this. I've met him at several live tournaments, gone to meals with him, gone partying with him, he's told me I can stay with him if I'm ever in London etc.

I will say of all the scandals I've seen in the online poker world involving someone I know, this is definitely the one that surprised me the most. Max honestly struck me as the type of guy who was fairly likely to get scammed since he was just extremely trusting of everyone and just struck me as kinda friendly/naive more so than calculating/manipulative. I guess he was just so calculating/manipulative that I didn't see through it at all. Wow, I honestly would have probably put Max as being one of the top 5% of high stakes players least likely to be up to something shady.

Wow, hope there's some sort of legal action taken

Thanks.

I'm ultra-paranoid and definitely don't let anyone touch my poker pc, but I think I'm going to push prudence to the point where I won't even open any internet page including emails, just poker clients and HEM/Stove.

Probably not 2+2 either, now that I think about it...

Did he tell you to make sure to bring your laptop for the visit?

It's interesting that all these scammers are so stupid.

The scary thing is that our sample consist only of the cheaters that got caught.

This scandal could be huge.
Have any players confirmed that the trojan must have been installed by the guy physically using the PCs of his friends, or is e-mail delivery also possible?
I'm trying to work out how the thing worked. Presumably, it was making the infected computer's entire desktop show up on the other end, a bit like Microsoft's "remote assistance" app. Except the guy seeing your desktop was only assisting you in moving money from you to him.

If I was affected by this I would get together with all victims and hire the russian mafia to get my money back.
At least.

THis.

The guy is informed enough to know timex plays only tourneys so he wouldnt make much sense as a mark- legit question tho ofc
I`m not accusing anyone yet- find it a bit weird he was playin tourneys etc. Shocking to think nowadays that if u break into a persons home, it might be more worth your while installing a trojan on the computer rather than stealing it :P

i totally get that this was something installed directly through flash drive so really not too much can be done about that; but imo this is EXACTLY why this ****ing farce of a government/congress needs to REGULATE internet poker. how about some ****ing security? we've been trying to get regulated and protected since the AP/UB scandals that happened what, like 6/7 years ago now?

nope. just indict them and call it a ponzi scheme. lol, the ****ing united states of america is a ponzi scheme. gtfo.


edit - i realize this all took place internationally and our govt changing anything will likely have little to no effect regarding things of this nature. just think there are unfortunately still way too many shady immoral scumbags that find their way into the poker world to possibly rely on anyones integrity, and all the sites should be secured & regulated in such a way that dirty shyt like this doesn't continue to happen. or at least slow it down

Has he just played 8game? I'm pretty curious about his screen names

oh no not again

Im not Shocked. Its weird to always wanna come hang out even though not invited. If we wouldnt answer the phone, he would call several people in the group to try to get in on our activities somehow. I see what u mean with the friendly and naive stuff and he really seems to be a gentle and nice guy but I gotta say, we kinda suspected it.

He shows up at big tournament weeks but seldom plays the bigger events or even main events and he is impossible to say no to. Its very hard to keep him away from you once you have started a relationship and when ur unsuspecting in the beginning and its all dinners and smiles of course hes gonna be around ur house/hotelroom on different trips and if its true just need a few secs to put the trojan in.

Probably wont see him at any events for a while now...

If people just learned to NEVER open a program that isn't verified or from an official website this **** wouldn't happen. You wouldn't believe how little some people know regarding to this, opening links in spam emails etc.. Some people don't even have a virus scanner.

apparently the victim didn't execute anything, the "friend" installed the virus from an usb-stick, while the citim let his computer alone for a second.

I doubt this would've helped in this case, because it's not a virus supposed to spread around the internet. that make si tunlikely, that a antivirus-programme would know it's signature and be able to find it.

me and my swedish friends rented a house outside nice i april. after none of us had answered his calls he eventually showed up, inviting himself over, and without us giving it much notice he used everyone's laptops.

i dont think anyone got scammed, and he was very eager to come back to the house the following days. so i guess he didnt succeed with his scam this time, and maybe his was a beginner at this stage and didnt have that much experience from previous attempts?

this was in april

I am up 20k on him in my database (although that could be far from truth because i havent tracked stud hi lo or 2-7) and he definitely didnt get anywhere close to my comp..... We played a lot of hands too with at least three long hu sessions (saying this just to put his real talent in perpective ie if i am up on him he isnt that good)

Never considered him to be anywhere close to one of the tougher players at those stakes and definitely sucked monkey balls when it came to the big bet games

Also he i am 90% sure he is of lebanese descent....

That said if he is guilty i hope he gets punished bad

for some reason this is the first time I read about an online poker scam and thought wow this is really a blow to the industry. I don't know why but that's how I feel. Maybe it just occurred to me that every scandal attracts a disproportionate amount of attention. Over time more and more scandals will be revealed and their potential for injury is great because of the speed and anonymity of online poker. I mean a couple shows up at a live table and colludes or a dealer palms a few quarter chips a day nobody really notices. The damage is more or less contained and if it goes on too long its bound to be uncovered. Successful online cheating is so efficient though it's amazing. Given how many hands people play and the large advantage criminals have over good faith players, is online poker just inherently too dangerous?

Perhaps no USB stick was needed. He could have dropped his payload from one of his email attachments or cloud storage files. He certainly had time for damage once he was given access.

Two dozen victims is a ****load!

I'm still waiting to see a shred of evidence.

Anyone?

Just thought I'd add to this as I met Max at EPT Madrid where he was overly friendly to me and kept wanting to meet up and hang out which I thought was a bit weird and I told a lot of the UK guys about it as he seemed far too eager to be friends with me for my liking.

JP