Question Someone is typing in my address and search bars

[Jamesthe]

Someone is typing in the address bar of my computer. They also type in the search bar of whatever page I am at. For example I could be on duolingo and they would type in that page’s search bar. This can happen in any page which has a search bar. The messages contain personal info that I don’t know how they got. It is a brand new computer so this is both puzzling and scary. Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[Viking2121]

Well, for starters, disconnect it from the internet immediately, pull the plug, disconnect from Wifi.

My next step would be to wipe out the OS and reinstall, might be able to get away with a OS Reset, Virus scanner, Malware scanner, Is till wouldn't trust the PC afterwards even if it did find soemthing.

Second, is it really new? From who, what company? Was it a custom build PC, or a second hand PC from say ebay, or Marketplace? Did you have any sort of "help" like did you call someone to help fix a problem? Scammers do this all the time, mostly to older people who don't know better.

Good Luck! Don't do anything on the internet with that PC, no banking, no buying anything, nothing until this is fixed.

 

[Jamesthe]

Thanks for replying. I bought it from a big box store so I’m assuming it’s new. It’s not on wifi but on Ethernet cable plugged into a router that is connected to the cable outlet on the wall. I did a factory reset but it didn’t help. I don’t know if that is the same as wiping out the os.

 

[rgd1101]

did you install anything after you did a factory reset?

 

[punkncat]

You haven't accidentally activated voice to text or other accessibility feature have you?

If this is on W11 it could even be some of the baked in AI stuff.

 

[Jamesthe]

rgd1101: the only thing I installed is Norton antivirus. I reinstalled it since I was already signed up and I have it on other devices.

Punkcat: I don’t think I have activated voice to text. The messages are not things that I have said but seem as if someone is thinking of ways to provoke us to respond. For example “your name is ______ and you are ___ years old” or “your daughter’s name is ____ and she is ___ years old.” I left the name and age out but whoever is writing actually types this info. Also names of pets and diseases they had, names of relatives, phrases and words we would only know and that we may at some point have typed in a message, etc. Also asks for my visa number and asks for money but this was only a couple of times. Most of the questions are of the more personal type like the ones I mentioned.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Remove Norton for starters. I’d run a scan with adwcleaner then with malwarebytes. After that I think I’d install avast at least temporarily and run their boot scan. Then let windows defender do a full scan after that. If you don’t see anything it’s possible your router is compromised. I’ve seen it happen before. The way to test that would be change your dns settings to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

 

[Jamesthe]

Remove Norton for starters. I’d run a scan with adwcleaner then with malwarebytes. After that I think I’d install avast at least temporarily and run their boot scan. Then let windows defender do a full scan after that. If you don’t see anything it’s possible your router is compromised. I’ve seen it happen before. The way to test that would be change your dns settings to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Thanks for the reply. How do you change the dns settings? Would it help to get a new router?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Go under control panel and to network, change adapter settings. Find your Ethernet adapter, right click and go to properties, then go to where it shows tcp/ip v4, select that and configure.

 

[Jamesthe]

Go under control panel and to network, change adapter settings. Find your Ethernet adapter, right click and go to properties, then go to where it shows tcp/ip v4, select that and configure.

Thanks. What should happen after I change the dns settings?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Just see if it improves. Reason I suggest this, I once worked on some systems where they came up clean but kept getting redirected to other sites etc. When I changed dns settings to those (the 2 I listed should be for google), then things started working better. I suggested changing dns settings just as a troubleshooting step though. If that were to resolve it you’d want to at least reset your router and update the firmware.

 

[Jamesthe]

Just see if it improves. Reason I suggest this, I once worked on some systems where they came up clean but kept getting redirected to other sites etc. When I changed dns settings to those (the 2 I listed should be for google), then things started working better. I suggested changing dns settings just as a troubleshooting step though. If that were to resolve it you’d want to at least reset your router and update the firmware.

That sounds good thanks a lot for your help. Sorry I don’t know but how do you reset the router and update the firmware?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Usually on the router there’s reset button. If you aren’t sure though you should probably try to have a tech savvy friend help you.

 

[Ralston18]

I will add a few more suggestions:

Take a look at everything that is running on the PC via Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free). Use all three tools but only one at a time.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Objective being to discover some unknown or unexpected process that is running. Just explore and look - no need to rush. Some things will be obvious. Others not so much and they can be researched to discover what they are or may be pretending to be.

Also look in Task Manager > Startup and Task Scheduler for any unrecognized apps, utilities, etc., being launched at start up or later triggered by some other action that occurs.

Confirm that the PC is not sharing anything nor allowing remote access.

Look in the hosts file for unexpected IP addresses and host names.

Hosts file

My thought is that some crapware was loaded onto the build either directly or embedded with some other garbage app. Indeed, perhaps some junk AI as suggested by @punkncat.

And take another look at the connectivity involved: PC --- Ethernet -----> Router --- cable into the wall ----> ??

What comes next: some other box, a patch panel, a wire leading to some unknown location.....

What make and model router?

Try running "tracert 8.8.8.8" without quotes via the Command Prompt.

What that command does is ping Google's servers and presents a list of the devices/servers between the PC and Google. The first two or three hops being of most interest.

 

[geofelt]

Consider returning the pc to the store as defective.
The cause of your issues may be difficult to find, and the pc is useless without a fix
Possibly the bios has been tampered with, in which case you may never get a fix.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Thinking again, the fact that you factory reset the pc, if anything was on your drive you should have solved it there.

Here's the other question. Do you have an older PC you can plug in the same outlet? If so does the same thing happen? If so something is going on with your network. If not, PC possibly on a bios level as someone above said.

When you connect to the internet are you plugging in directly from the cable modem from your ISP to your PC or are you going through a wifi router first? If you are plugging in directly from the cable modem, I don't personallyr recommend that.

 

[SyCoREAPER]

Consider returning the pc to the store as defective.
The cause of your issues may be difficult to find, and the pc is useless without a fix
Possibly the bios has been tampered with, in which case you may never get a fix.

This. You didn't pay/buy aggravation and issues. You paid for what should be a working no issue PC.
Return it and get a different one. Unless you are attached to it for some reason, all the troubleshooting is a waste of time.

 

[Jamesthe]

Thinking again, the fact that you factory reset the pc, if anything was on your drive you should have solved it there.

Here's the other question. Do you have an older PC you can plug in the same outlet? If so does the same thing happen? If so something is going on with your network. If not, PC possibly on a bios level as someone above said.

When you connect to the internet are you plugging in directly from the cable modem from your ISP to your PC or are you going through a wifi router first? If you are plugging in directly from the cable modem, I don't personallyr recommend that.

Sorry for the late reply. I am plugging in directly from modem to pc. Someone told me to plug in google wifi to the modem. Will this help?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Might. Basically most WiFi routers have at least a basic firewall in them. Your pc should have a software firewall but not a bad idea to have some kind of firewall device in front of it.

 

[Ralston18]

@Jamesthe

Noted that you started another thread reporting similar problems on your phone.

Are you sure that your devices are not using some sort of "prefill" app that anticipates or otherwise recognizes what you most likely will be typing next"?

Or an app that is otherwise preset to fill in some input field (e.g., an address) that the software recognizes or believes is an address field etc..? Then looks at a stored list of previous entries and completes or edits the entry based on what you are entering.

What software is common to PC and phone?

Start turning off all "auto-fill" options. Determine if the "typing" stops.

 

[SkyNetRising]

The messages are not things that I have said but seem as if someone is thinking of ways to provoke us to respond. For example “your name is ______ and you are ___ years old” or “your daughter’s name is ____ and she is ___ years old.” I left the name and age out but whoever is writing actually types this info. Also names of pets and diseases they had, names of relatives, phrases and words we would only know and that we may at some point have typed in a message, etc. Also asks for my visa number and asks for money but this was only a couple of times.

Can you show a screenshot? edit out any personal info from the image.
(upload screenshot to imgur.com and post link)

 

[USAFRet]

Can you show a screenshot? edit out any personal info from the image.
(upload screenshot to imgur.com and post link)

There has been additional, critical, information, said to me in a PM, which completely changes the landscape of this "problem".

I've asked the OP to post that here. Lets see if he does.

 

[Jamesthe]

There has been additional, critical, information, said to me in a PM, which completely changes the landscape of this "problem".

I've asked the OP to post that here. Lets see if he does.

There is a router from a Cox that belongs to another occupant of the household. Currently only that occupant has their laptop plugged in with ethernet cable to the router. When I first posted this mine and my wife’s computers were plugged in to this same router also with ethernet cables. I have since unplugged our computers from the router and unplugged their power completely so they are not being used. Only the other occupant is still using the router with the ethernet cable.

So while we are not using our desktop computers there is still a similar issue with our phones— someone typing on the address bar and in the messages bar as if they had remote access to the phones.

At first it was happening with an iPhone which was on cellular data through att. Then I bought a cheap prepaid tracfone which you load data onto with a prepaid card. It started happening on the tracfone as well.

While messaging with the moderator he suggested that the router might be compromised and that the phones are defaulting wirelessly to the router, regardless of whether the phones and the router are serviced by different companies.

Any thoughts as to possible solutions?

I have been suggested google wifi, vpn, and/ or a new router but not sure what to try.

Thanks in advance for any help it is greatly appreciated!

 

[Jamesthe]

@Jamesthe

Noted that you started another thread reporting similar problems on your phone.

Are you sure that your devices are not using some sort of "prefill" app that anticipates or otherwise recognizes what you most likely will be typing next"?

Or an app that is otherwise preset to fill in some input field (e.g., an address) that the software recognizes or believes is an address field etc..? Then looks at a stored list of previous entries and completes or edits the entry based on what you are entering.

What software is common to PC and phone?

Start turning off all "auto-fill" options. Determine if the "typing" stops.

I don’t think it’s prefill since the messages are on the personal side and suggest that they have been combing through our messages. To make things worse, it was even likely — based on the things they were saying— that they might even have been watching and listening to us through the computer. At that point, I completely unplugged everything and am still not sure what to do.

 

[SkyNetRising]

At that point, I completely unplugged everything and am still not sure what to do.

Can you show any screenshots?
Honestly - without any evidence, I don't believe a single word.
Seems like trolling to me.