Telephone Computer Scam Alert

Wally Pitt has asked me to alert any followers of my blog to a telephone/computer scam that he has fallen foul of. His computer is now away to be cleaned up so he begs anyone who has received any emails from him after 25th July NOT to open, but to delete them.
Several of his email list (myself included) have received the message "PRIVATE MESSAGE from Wally Pitt".

The following is an email I received quite recently from Gillian, the computer technician that I use, and who is cleaning up Wally's computer for him.

"The telephone/computer con artists are at it again, so I’m sending this out to everyone in my address book. This has been written by me and is not a circular email that ‘does the rounds’.

The telephone scam in which the caller claims to be working for Microsoft, or a partner of Microsoft, Windows Operating System, or Google, or a PC Repair/Technical company or some other big computer company is still doing the rounds. Unfortunately the calls are so convincing that people really believe they are genuine…..otherwise the scammers would have given up by now. I know of 2 people who have had these calls in the last 3 days alone… I frequently get them myself.

The caller tells you that they have been monitoring your pc and that it has a problem that they must fix, in fact they say it’s imperative that you let them do it. DON’T LET THEM. At this point, the caller can become aggressive or threatening… IGNORE THEM AND PUT THE PHONE DOWN.

If you do fall for the call, they will ask you to log on to a particular website at which point a number of things may happen:

· They take control of your pc for illegal purposes

· They download a virus to your pc

· They leave legitimate programs on your pc that let them access your computer at a later date without your knowledge. Your antivirus program won’t block a legitimate program

· They ask for your credit or debit card details in order to fix the problem, except all they do is take money from your account…. and then you’ll have to pay me or someone else to clean up the machine. Plus you’ll have to cancel your bank cards.

· The day after one of these calls, you may get another one from someone claiming to be a PC Technician who believes you’ve been the victim of a scam and now have an infected machine…. again they will ask for money to fix the problem and then not do it. IGNORE THEM AND PUT THE PHONE DOWN

Microsoft and Google have millions of customers: they cannot identify you or your pc, they do not know your phone number and they do not ring people and to be quite honest they don’t care if you have a problem … let’s face it most people think their computers don’t behave as well as they’d like which is why they start to believe the call is genuine.

The second scam to be wary of is where the caller says they are from the local council and you are due a Council Tax rebate... then they ask you for your bank account details so they can make the repayment. NEVER EVER GIVE OUT YOUR BANK DETAILS

In general, be careful about any phone calls you receive as they may not be who they say they are

If you are worried or if you think your computer has been compromised, please don’t hesitate to ring me.

So, please, please, please, don’t do anything that they ask you to, hang up….. They are CON ARTISTS.

Best Wishes and safe computing,

Gillian

PC Technician and Tutor

"As a result of my last email, I’ve had many replies from people saying that they’ve received such phone calls and in some instances were convinced by them. The websites they ask you to go vary, but one especially looks very convincing… itselenesolutions.com … but please, don’t be tempted to look at it. Anyway, because of this one in particular, I decided to get in touch with Citizens Advice Consumer Help Line and Action Fraud.

Both organisations told me to tell everyone to get in touch with them if you get any of these types of calls – it doesn’t matter whether you hung up on the scammers straight away or if you followed their instructions – the authorities need to know as it is the only way they can understand the extent and spread of the problem. And not just computer based scams - the call could say that you are entitled to a Council Tax rebate!

Action Fraud: 0300 123040 - if you only ring one, do this one

Citizens Advice Consumer Help Line: 08454 040506

Anyone wishing to contact Gillian (who lives in Oakdale) can Text or phone me on 07970310104