XXXDial

XXXDial is a spyware/dialer application currently (as of December 2004) causing havoc in the UK. It changes a victim's PPP settings so that it automatically tries to reconnect to a premium rate number, as opposed to a user's normal dial-in number.

It has been noted that the dialer does not give any indication to the user that he/she is using anything different to his/her standard ISP's number while they are actually being charged a rate up to 200 times their normal dialup rate.

The dialer is found "in the wild" on websites and with software that is often adult in nature. As a result, it can be very difficult for victims to explain their huge phone bills away.

Note that this dialer, like most malicious dialers, only affects computers running Microsoft Windows - there are no known "ports" of this 'tool' to other OSes.

For information, see Dialer.

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