Dialler scam

I access Tesco Anytime via a separate phone number provided by Tesco so that no charges are routed to my normal BT phone. I was therefore horrified to see on my recent BT bill that I had been charged for £94-worth of international calls, all to the same number I had never heard of, in a country called Sao Tome! When I rang BT, they referred me to my ISP. Tesco's response was that I had possibly been on the receiving end of an email which had introduced a rogue program on to my computer that led me unknowingly to access a high-value website which by-passed the Tesco dial-up. I also have Norton Anti-Virus and Firewall on my PC and run Ad-aware regularly, but am now nervous in case it happens again.
Kathryn Crone

The calls have been made by a "porn dialler", a small program that could have arrived by email or been installed from a website. A dialler can turn off the sound, disconnect you from your ISP, then dial a high-priced service, though obviously it should not do this without your consent (www.pornsitedialers.com/dialerfaq.htm). Diallers may have legitimate uses but they are so profitable - earning scammers up to $1 a minute, for calls from the UK - that many sites resort to underhand methods to get them installed. For that reason, try to close unwanted popups and dialogue boxes by hitting Ctrl-W or Esc rather than clicking a "No" that could be interpreted as "Yes", and don't run unsolicited email attachments. As mentioned last week, SpywareBlaster, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Ad-aware and a virus checker will deal with most parasites, but keep your eyes open for anything they might miss. If you use Internet Explorer, go to Tools | Internet Options | Security, click the Custom Level button, and make sure you do not download ActiveX controls without prompting. If you run Windows NT/2000/XP, surf from a user account, not the Administrator account.

ICSTIS, the regulator for premium rate phone numbers, has a code of practice for the way things should work, such as giving you an on-screen clock and ending calls when the cost reaches £20. It seems the rules have not been followed in this case. Call 0800-500212 or email helpline@icstis.org.uk to report the problem and get a reference number. On the bright side, it could have been worse. Rogue diallers can easily run up bills of $1,000.

Shared cable

My flatmates have a Telewest broadband connection and a Mac G4 laptop. Can I set up a wireless connection to use broadband on my Dell laptop?
Mark Sellman

Telewest's website says it "does not support the use of its broadband connection as part of a home network". Even though it has just announced a £35 Wi-Fi system using a Netgear access point, it insists that is "for one device". But you can install your own router. Segcom sells the DrayTek Vigor 2104P router, which it says is "designed to enable cable modem users (eg Telewest Blueyonder/NTL) to share their broadband connection between several computers" using cables. The Wi-Fi equivalent is the DrayTek Vigor 2200We. Networklab covers the technical details of connecting a Linksys cable/DSL router on their website.

Clip clear

Windows XP Home doesn't seem to have a clipboard viewer, thus no way of clearing the clipboard when involved in image manipulation, causing it to hog loads of memory. Has Microsoft really done something so dumb, or am I missing something?
Ron Graves

Microsoft's more sophisticated clipboard is part of the Office suite, and presumably all Microsoft staff use Office. However, copying a single letter will in effect clear the clipboard by replacing the image file with a character, or you could install one of the vast collection of free or shareware Windows clipboard replacements and extenders. AutoClipClear will do what you need, but there are 11 pages of alternatives at www.freedownloadscenter.com.

Backchat

· In June, Adam Forrester needed to cool his overheating Toshiba notebook and among my suggestions was a Bytecc cooler sold in the US. Paul McGuire bought one and liked it so much he's now become Bytecc's distributor in the UK "and had several large boxes full of them shipped over!"

· Jennifer Howard wanted an online pinboard, and I suggested Online Home Base would do the job. Marc Fest, OHB's creator, has stepped into the breach with "a new collaboration web service that I launched over the weekend". Designed for sharing notes, it is "self-explanatory, no-nonsense and fast-loading," he says. And it's free. (www.OurNotepad.com)