I was on my computer 10/8/20 morning when my computer froze and started beeping. Alert popped up “do not turn off, reboot computer… possible virus” with what looked like a legit Microsoft screen to call number. I stupidly called and “Tech” named “A Jay” had me type in stuff where he could remotely access my computer to “fix” it. He showed me “threats” and said I had a “Trojan virus”. For $99.99 he could fix it and offer 1 year virus protection. I was in a hurry to a Vet appt – he assured me he could fix it while I was gone and call me in an hour or 2 at my convenience. Just scan a blank $99.99 check and he’d have my bank call to verify validity later in the day. I did it ([censored]!) And rushed out the door. My boyfriend Googled his phone number and luckily caught the only other person on this website that reported this fraud – thank you! He disconnected the internet immediately. We closed our bank account and all credit cards, changed passwords, called the FTC to report like she did. We noticed he installed a “TeamViewer ” app on our computer which is a legit website but he’s not. He actually called 4 more times – even leaving a message asking me to call him back because he needed access to the computer after we cut him off! We installed free Spybot software and ran a full McAfee virus scan and disabled any remote access. I tried to add a photo of his TeamViewer page with the credentials but Scampulse won’t allow it. My stupid but I spent a whole day canceling accounts, autopays, going to the bank, changing passwords. Absolute nightmare! If it happens to you DO NOT FALL FOR IT! Maybe I should’ve turned off my computer and rebooted it. I highly doubt anything worse than this could happen! But at 11 pm still tonight McAfee is stopping suspicious IP network threats almost every 5-10 minutes! So they’re still trying. What a mess – I’m college educated and I feel like the world’s biggest [censored]!
Victim Location 93110
Type of a scam Tech Support
On 5/13/20 my 92 year-old father had trouble accessing his email. I believe he clicked on a link for tech support. Ultimately he placed a call to the following toll free number: 888-973-1194 and spoke with someone who had an Indian accent that led my father to believe that he was talking with someone authorized to represent Microsoft. My father was on the call for 50 minutes. Shortly after the conclusion of this call, he received a call from this number in Milton FL: 850-810-4441 and spoke with them for about 10 minutes. During one of these calls my father was duped into providing remote access to his computer. The alleged technician said that he was unable to repair the computer, but that my father was still being billed $199- for this work. My father was asked to write a check, place it on his scanner and, using remote access, the technician scanned an image of my father’s check. My father then placed the check in his mailbox. Luckily, he told me about it and I intercepted the check before the post office picked it up. When I reached someone at one of these numbers, I also spoke with someone who had an Indian accent and they identified themselves as being authorized by Microsoft, but refused to give me the name of their company and refused to speak to me when I pressed them for more information. I stated that I was concerned that this might be fraud and they told me I was a fraud and hung up. I placed a stop payment on my father’s check in case they tried to submit an image of it for electronic payment and we closed my father’s checking account, which has been its own special headache. We will also file a report with the Federal Trade Commission.
Thanks for posting your alert! You saved me from probably getting my bank account and a lot more hacked! I, too, called the FTC and posted my story. Bad people!