WyzGuys Tech Talk

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

“I just received a call from a guy pretending to be from Amazon. Told me that somebody had just charged $746.42 on my debit card and I needed to get on my computer while he was on the phone login to my Amazon account go to my bank account and cancel that charge and he would help me take care of that through my computer.”

“Received a automated voice message ,”I have been charged $500 on my account to Amazon and if I didn’t make this purchase to call (208)722-**** to clear this matter if I didn’t make the purchase.”

“I just received a call from a 915 area code with a claim that my credit card was charged $700+ for the purchase of a new iPhone. He wanted me to put me on speaker on my cell phone, go to my home screen on my phone, and he would “help” me.”

EXAMPLES OF COMMON SCAMS

People who claim to be from Microsoft or another computer firm. They tell you they’ve detected a virus on your PC and need to be given remote access to put it right.

Scammers may try to reach you is by tricking you into downloading malware onto your PC, which then flashes a warning that you have a virus and need to contact “tech support” to have it removed.

Scammers will impersonate a well-known company, most commonly Telstra, NBN or Microsoft, or even the police, and spin you a very credible and believable story about why they need to access your computer using software such as TeamViewer.

Scammers claim they are tracking the ‘scammers’ or ‘hackers’, and tell the consumer that their computer has been compromised and is being used to send scam messages. This is where they say with the victim’s help, they can use the victim’s computer and online banking to trap the (fake) ‘scammer.

Tech Companies and Businesses Don’t Operate that way!

• Don’t give control of your computer to a third party who calls you out of the blue.
• Do not rely on caller ID alone to authenticate a caller.
• Online search results might not be the best way to find technical support or get a company’s contact information.
• Never provide your credit card or financial information to someone who calls and claims to be from tech support.
• If a caller pressures you to buy a computer security product or says there is a subscription fee associated with the call, hang up.
• Never give your password on the phone. No legitimate organization calls you and asks for your password.
• Put your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, and then report illegal sales calls.

For more information on computer scams go to the FTC at:
How To Spot, Avoid, and Report Tech Support Scams | FTC Consumer Information

Today’s writer is Joey Pepka from Peptronics