You might not think you could get a computer virus by phone, but when Terry Davis’ computer got hacked, it started with a call.
Davis was heading out for a brunch appointment last month when he got a call from a woman who reported Microsoft was having difficulty updating his operating system.
Davis answered her questions. Yes, it seemed he hadn’t received updates lately. Yes, his computer seemed slow. And come to think of it, there were some times when he’d had trouble accessing screens.
She told him her company was an authorized Microsoft contractor and could fix the problem in just 10 minutes.
That’s about how long it took to wind up with an infected computer.
When Microsoft – the real company – surveyed computer users a couple years ago, it found about 15 percent had been contacted by callers offering bogus tech help.
A whopping 79 percent of those who were conned into installing remote access software on their computer suffered from financial losses. Some became ID theft victims after scammers grabbed personal data from their computers. Some bought bogus computer tech support plans after thieves tricked them into believing their computers were malfunctioning. Many had to pay legitimate techs to remove the malware they’d been tricked into installing.
When the Federal Trade Commission sued six tech support scam operators last year, it estimated they had ripped off tens of thousands of consumers between them. Five used boiler rooms to cold-call victims. Another used web sites to snare people searching the Internet for computer help.
If you don’t know much about computer code – and most of us with computers fall into that category – it’s easy to get sucked in.
The woman who called Davis at his home in Berea quickly transferred him to a tech who talked Davis into downloading software – a program Davis belatedly realized allowed the tech to remotely access his computer.
The tech then led Davis to a utility called the event viewer, which is a log of computer activity. Most of the time that activity is logged as normal, but when a hiccup occurs – a program unexpectedly quits or a page won’t open – the event viewer logs the entry with a symbol that looks like a red X or a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark inside.
Those symbols are in every computer, and they’re not a big deal.
But to the uninitiated, they look like very bad news indeed, especially when you’ve got someone you believe is a tech from a reputable company telling you that each symbol represents a serious issue. That’s exactly the spot Davis found himself in.
“He proceeded to show me…more than 1,800 errors of various types that, at the time, I did not realize were normal errors stored in a record over months and years of use,” Davis said.
Once Davis was sufficiently concerned, the tech tried to sell him repair contracts ranging from a $59 one-time session to a $499 five year plan. Davis said no and hung up.
As he rushed out the door, Davis said, he had a nagging feeling he should uninstall the software, but since he feared being late for brunch, he didn’t. He did send a quick email to Microsoft later that night. The next day, when he went to delete the program, he could no longer find it.
Soon, his computer began behaving erratically.
That’s when he received a response from the real Microsoft telling him it doesn’t cold-call people to offer computer help.
While Davis dodged paying for a bogus protection plan, he had installed a rogue program on his computer, one he had to pay a legitimate company to help him clean up.
“It cost me $100 and two days of my time,” Davis said. He said he still isn’t sure whether the scammers accessed the data stored on his computer.
A Bay Village reader inadvertently contacted scammers herself, using a toll-free number she found when she went online to look for “Facebook help.”
She at first believed she was talking to someone from Facebook, but became uneasy when the tech sent her a code to allow him to access her computer. When she declined, she recalled, “he said that he had spent 40 minutes helping me and almost pleaded with me to give the code.”
The FTC and OnGuardOnline.gov offer these tips for avoiding computer help scams:
- Never install software on your computer at the urging of someone who calls you unprompted. And don’t fall for it if someone you don’t know offers you a “free” security scan.
- Don’t trust your caller ID. Scammers spoof numbers, and they frequently pretend to be affiliated with well-known companies to get your trust.
- Don’t stumble around the Internet looking for tech support. Scammers can be really good at pushing their names high in Internet search results – and they also take advantage of “fat-finger typing,” which is when you mistype an address. Make sure you’re dealing with a legitimate company with a good reputation.
- Don’t pay in response to ransomware scams that freeze your computer. Some of these scams display a screen that says you must buy particular software to get control of your computer back. Or the warnings look like they’re from the FBI or Department of Homeland Security and threaten that unless you immediately pay a fine, you’ll be prosecuted for engaging in some illicit activity on your computer.
Source from: (http://www.cleveland.com)
For Expert & trusted Services
Call us @ 1-855-787-7886 or
Email us at “support@tecmend.com”,
Our Expert will get in touch with you shortly.
Pay Us After Resolution
Visit: http://www.tecmend.com
tecmend 