Victim Location 76310
Total money lost $200
Type of a scam Tech Support
Receive e-mail saying my computer had been hacked and they would remove and clean computer and track intruders.
Victim Location 81504
Total money lost $450
Type of a scam Tech Support
My initial contact was via an internet search for Microsoft tech support, where a number was listed. Upon calling, I was required to pay $450 for ongoing support. The tech logged on to my machine with me observing, and he fixed some issues. I later had additional issues crop up, and as I observed the work being done to my computer remotely, I became alarmed to note suspicious files being opened, so I closed the session. Another call resulted in the tech offering to return my payment as required by a lawsuit. Then he claimed the refund had accidentally gone through twice, and it appeared true on my bank’s online page. Then I stupidly wired the money back, only to find that my computer was completely locked up with ransomware. I disputed the wire as soon as possible at the bank, but the money went through. The ransomeware was unremovable by my local computer repair store, and all of my data was lost with the required reformatting. Since then, the scammers call on a regular basis, trying the same tricks. Each time is a different phone number and location, and the numbers are ‘disconnected or no longer in use’ when I call back to find the business name.