Many of our customers have had calls from “Microsoft.” These people usually have a heavy East Indian accident. They will even call multiple times and give you an 800 number to call where they answer as Microsoft.
Microsoft will never initiate an unsolicited call to you.
The conversations usually start with these phrases:
- You have a virus which is sending information from your computer.
- Your PC showed signs of malware infection, and instructs you to open the Windows Event Manager, so that you could see numerous error messages. (Any error your computer has ever had will be shown in here)
- Your computer is not accepting any windows updates
After the above key phrases, you’ll hear, “Please allow our technicians to fix this” and they will direct you to a website with a link. Once you click on this link, they have complete control of your computer. At this point, in the background where you can’t see it, they will scan your computer for banking information, credit cards, passwords, or anything they can use for identity theft, while it appears that they are working on your computer to remove the virus.
Finally, they then open up a browser and instruct you to enter your personal information, including banking information and make a PayPal payment of $299. If you fail to do so, they will take control of your computer away from you and delete all of your documents and pictures while you watch helplessly. The scammer then looks for more ways to corrupt the system so you cannot contact anyone to fix your computer remotely.
What to do if you are called
1. Hang up and ignore repeated calls. It is not a legitimate call.
2. Don’t waste your time trying to get information where they are. They are outside the laws of this country.
3. Report any instance of this scam to the police, but they can’t do anything but keep a record of how many people are being scammed.
4. Finally, change any passwords that could have been compromised. Ensure that your firewall and antivirus are up to date and protecting your PC, and run a full virus scan with your antivirus software.
If you feel your system has been comprised, please call any local computer technician that you trust and have them check your system.
Norman Davie
President