Computer Scam

[Stan Wright]

Noel,
It already happened a few days ago.
I acted like I was interested and then hung up right in mid sentence as I was talking.
I didn't answer when they called right back.
The phone number was 876-430-9171 from Jamaica.
Stan



On May 14, 2012, at 6:56 PM, Noel Mackisoc wrote:

hi Stan,

I wanted to alert you to this potential scam. If you get a strange Indian person calling saying your computer is infected, it's a scam!
Warning COMPUTER SCAM.

There are scammers that may potentially call and claim they are "Computer Specialists" or from "DELL" or "Microsoft" or some government agency. They may say your computer is infected and they need to examine it and will ask you to let them in via remote control.

The result will be they want to charge a huge amount of money for their "services" ask for charge card info, etc.

We have 1 case of this happening yesterday.

Do NOT follow any of their instructions. If you can get their name(s), company information, phone numbers and tell them you will get back to them. Please send me the information.

Report any suspicious calls to management.

thanks,

Noel



More on this scam...

Online con artists are targeting PC users worldwide in a brazen scam. It starts with a phone call from a “tech support specialist” who warns that your computer is infected with a virus. To fix things, all you have to do is give the caller remote access to your PC. Here’s what happens next.

An old social-engineering scam appears to have taken on new life lately, targeting PC users worldwide.

Ironically, the scam doesn’t use a computer at all—at least, not initially. Instead, it starts with a phone call from someone who claims to be affiliated with Microsoft or another legitimate company or government agency.

The caller then asks for the primary computer user in the house, who is told: “Your computer has downloaded a virus.” And, of course, the caller is ready and willing to fix the problem. All you have to do is navigate to a web site, click a link to install some remote-control software, and allow the “technician” to get to work.