The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office has seen a resurgence of a telephone and computer scam. The victim will receive a phone call, with the caller saying the victims computer has a virus and needs to be repaired.
The caller needs access remotely and he/she will examine the computer. If granted access, the caller will then say the computer needs to be cleaned and that he/she can do it for a sum of money.
This scam can allow the caller control of the victims computer and also any sensitive data on the computer. The victim usually will also supply the caller with credit card information.
Treat any form of contact like this, phone call, email ,etc as very dubious in legitimacy. Do not allow remote access or give your personal information to anyone you did not initiate the conversation with.
I felt obligated to post because I think a scammer who perpetrates this fake tech repair scam has called me. The phone number was 980-445-2966. The lady claimed she's a rep from my telephone service provider and that she's calling to collect the long-overdue payment for my telephone bill. She even threatened that such negligence would surely reflect on my credit report.
ReplyDeleteBut I paid my bills on time and I knew the caller was bluffing so I hung up and alerted the telephone company about the call. I also Googled the phone number and pulled up several complaints posted at http://www.callercenter.com/980-445-2966.html which I also showed to the police. And surprisingly, the phone number has already been reported for fake Microsoft call.