Earlier today I received a phone call from a lady with an American accent claiming to be from Windows and that she was calling to resolve my computer problem.
Fortunately, I was aware of this scam and cut the call short before any damage was done. You may be thinking what were they attempting to do?
When the caller said she was calling to deal with my computer problem, I knew it was a scam as my father received a similar call a few weeks earlier. My father who is a 77 year old pensioner, was taken in and allowed the caller to continue with the scam before I intervened at the latter stages and prevented the fraud from succeeding.
My father had the presence of mind to ask them to call back to give him time to turn his computer on and connect to the internet. He then took the opportunity to contact me for advice and I then went round to his home and intercepted the return call to prevent the hoaxer from succeeding.
If you allow the hoaxer to continue they will:
- Tell you that they will solve your computer problem (one that you may not be aware of but they are)
- Once you accept what they are saying they will talk you through the process of enabling them to access your computer remotely
- Once in they take control of your computer and demand payment to go away and give control back to you
- The double whammy is that once they get hold of your bank payment details, they can milk your account
Microsoft do not email or phone you about sorting your computer out so don’t be fooled.
If it happens to you, report it to ‘Action Fraud’ 0300 123 2040 or go on their web site at https://reportlite.actionfraud.police.uk/
