The Rise of Phone Scams
Phone scams are on the rise. A number of Nerd customers and the Nerds themselves have received calls over the last couple of months from people saying they are from either “Microsoft” or “Windows” or some other bogus company name.
The callers normally start by stating that your computer has either an infection, a virus or malware. They then ask if they can create a temporary link via the internet to your computer so they can clean it out by directing you to their website – Online PC Doctors (or a variation of this), or by starting a programme called LogMeIn.
From there they remotely carryout various tasks on your PC to ‘confirm you have an infection’ (Note – none of what they do actually achieves this) and make you a great offer to clean out your computer and provide you with ongoing maintenance for 1 year for about $200.00.
They go on to request personal information including:
Full name
Address
Phone number
Email address and password
Credit card details
Faxed copy of your drivers licence
So what should you do?
Hang up.
The callers are very persuasive and throw in a lot of convincing sounding (but technically inaccurate) jargon but at the end of the day are trying to access your computer for nefarious purposes and deceiving you to get your personal information.
One of the Nerds also had a call in the last week from a very similar sounding company purporting to be their bank and asking them for their date of birth to verify they were talking to the right person. Again it all sounded legitimate but your bank will never call and ask for personal information over the phone. Once again just hang up.
One last point - let your friends and family know too so that you and they can avoid an expensive and unnecessary exercise.
You can use the SHARE link below to send this article via email, facebook or twitter.
12 Responses to "The Rise of Phone Scams"
Leave a Reply
Subscribe by RSS-
Nerd Online Backup
We’ve had more than our fair share of disasters in New Zealand this year and disasters, both natural and... Read More
-
Smartphone - Bad Apps
According to an analysis from some phishing sites, secure web services provider Trusteer found that people using... Read More
-
Mobile data
A smartphone is a fantastic tool for the savvy owner, with a host of useful applications and features. There is however... Read More
Thank you so much for the above info–we have received great service from ” The Nerds”–comtemplating investing in a new T V and Computer in the New Year so info is appreciated–what about some info on the purchase of a G P S?
Thanks again Shirley
Hi Shirley, thanks for the feedback, check out our article on GPS systems here: http://www.needanerd.co.nz/home/printers-and-other-devices/global-positioning-systems/
Thanks for the information. I have already received one from Microsoft saying that they had received a warning that something was wrong with my computer.
I was asked to press the keys :Alt, control and then delete. I didn’t do that. The voice was that of a woman and she was Asian sounding.
Thanks for the warning.
Pam and Ray
One night I had a ring Amercian accent saying they were a radio station in USA and I had won a large amount of money. I receiver was slammed in their ear post haste.
Thanks also. I am usually reluctant to hand out details via phone, but you never know how convincing a call may be.
Hey guys!
Thanks heaps for posting articles like this to the web. I am constantly getting emails from friends about them getting scam calls and their not sure if its legit or not. I always say an easy find out is ask them which ISP you are with as they often havent done their research!
Thanks again,
Josh!
Interesting point Josh, although anyone can find out your ISP if they know your IP address so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to fake. Surprising they don’t, really.
Hi I also had a call – indian sounding gent, very pursasive, told him my PC was with an agent and told him I would get him to look into it. Needless to say I haven’t had another call
.
A word of caution to all – even though they sound legit (I also had someone call saying I had a faulty devise installed in my home and they had all the other details I would expect), never give out details. Say you will call back once you have checked your records. Is a delay tactic but works. Ask for their name and phone number – that’s another really good one
usually they are not too keen to give you that info – wonder why????????
Hi got a phone call tonight from these scammers whoever you are shame on you
I got one tonight. If you are interested in knowing where they’re getting your number from, it appears its straight out of the phonebook. I surmise this because immediately before they rang me, they rang the person immediately preceding me in the phonebook, who I know – and who has never owned a PC.
I played very concerned about the imaginary virus and kept the gentleman (yes, Indian-sounding), on the line.
These scammers are active again, had a call the other day, asked him for his phone number – he gave me this number and said it was a Wellington number 09 889 0786, told him he didn’t know one end of NZ from the other as this is an Auckland number. Also told him to leave NZ alone and pick on some other country as their scam was on National TV. He hung up !!!! Yes he was Indian sounding too.
Yes, they seem to go through phases of heavy and lite calling, but they have never really gone away. With any luck they will stop catching people off guard and give up soon.