Scam Alert: Watch Out for This Phone Call
The phone rings, you pick, up, it’s tech support. How nice! They’re calling to follow up on a computer problem you had or to warn you of a virus in your system.
That’s the start of a phone call that could end up costing you. The FCC is reporting that an old “Microsoft” tech support scam going back to 2011 has been reinvented with a twist.
In one new version, the caller claims to be from tech support – some say “Microsoft” or a Microsoft partner. The caller offers you a refund of whatever you last paid to a technician for help on your computer. The person claims you paid too much for the service (or, in some cases, claims the company is going out of business) and if you’ll just give them your account information, they’ll direct-deposit the refund for you. Easy. Except, of course, you’d be giving your account info to a fraudster.
In the other version, the caller (possibly identifying themselves as “24/7 tech”) claims to need remote access to your computer, either to manage the refund via Western Union, or in a different scenario, to fix a known technical issue with your computer or clean a virus. Maybe you’ve been getting those error messages everyone gets once in a while, so you might agree to some trouble-shooting help. The caller then walks you through some steps on your computer, gains access and either installs a virus, or grabs your personal and banking info. In some cases, the caller might even ask for payment for the “repair.”
What Can You Do?
Here’s what the FCC advises:
- Never give a caller access to your computer. Neither Microsoft nor any legitimate tech support company will cold call you and ask for access. If you receive a call like this, hang up. Log the date and time of the call.
- Never give anyone your banking information unless you called them (and not because they left you a message!).
- File a complaint at ftc.gov/complaint.
- If you already received a call like this and paid for a supposed repair with a credit card, call your credit card company and ask them to reverse the charges.
For more information, check the FCC site – read the comments there, too, from people who’ve received these calls.
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Comments
Yes, I received a call yesterday. They were going out of business…. blahblahblah… they wanted to send me a refund…. blahblahblah…
I let them rattle off their spiel without answering, hoping they’d have to spend more on the call if I didn’t hang up. I get lots of these calls. They are a nuisance.
Today I received an email which I am sure is computer scam
attempt. Beware, they are sending emails now but the info
they give is the same as by phone message.
These scammers (pretending to be Tec Central) called my parents (they prey on octogenarians) today with a great offer: For only $249, you can have a year of protection against scammers like us. And, for another $499, you can have even better protections against scammers like us. Or, for only $1499 you can have super-duper protection for life! Who wouldn’t want that? Guess what? All the services have already been performed, so there is nothing left to do but reimburse us. Just go to the post office, purchase a money order and mail it to 27901 SW 129th Ct, Homestead, FL 33032. I wonder why they are too stupid to use a PO Box. I looked up that address on Google. Its a genuine dump in a slum neighborhood. Then I looked up the corporation named “Tec Secure, Inc.”. They are in good standing with the State of Florida, which doesn’t prove that they aren’t criminals. Now I have the names and addresses for the “CEO”, the “Manager”, and the “President” who lives in Oregon. The owner and his girlfriend appear to have moved to 1633 Greer Ave — a townhouse in another crappy neighborhood, 7 miles down the road.
Now, let’s count a few of the ways that these slime have violated the law:
1. Dialed a number on the National Do-Not-Call List. That’s good for a $17,000 fine per call.
2. Committed fraud by representing themselves as a fictitious company.
3. Committed fraud by soliciting payment for services not performed.
My next call will be to the Dade County Sheriff to see if I can get these guys arrested.
This just happened to me. Got a call from a “HP support tech”. Told me I had problems. I immediately suspected a scam. Then he read me my computer’s serial number, e-mail address, etc. Still I questioned him. Showed me ratings, some, web sites (yikes), business registration (Florida). Win Support 247 LLC. . And I fell for it. And I stupidly allowed remote access. And installation of alleged spyware detection, anti-virus programs.
I am spiting mad at myself. I am going to plead with my IT connection at the college where I teach (not computer science obviously) to tell me what to do. Then I am swinging by campus security as here is college material a-plenty on this computer and they may be interested. Oy vey!
No, the sheriff won’t do a thing. He’ll be too busy busting those who carry concealed with a permit but who accidentally (gust of wind that opens their jacket, raising their arm to reach a jar of peanut butter on the top shelf of a supermarker, and so on) make their holstered gun visible to some Snowflake.
I’m a victim of all of the above, plus more! I receive 10 – 12 calls a day that usually hang up, but sometimes a generated female voice says “good bye” which hits my answering machine, of course. I have 38 voice mails on my phone right now that I’ll be checking out and listing for the FTC. It seems like these idiots are unstoppable! If the FTC would fine them a significant amount and spread the wealth amongst us poor fools that “bit” the scam. The first time I called HP Tech Support, I got the typical “Mujibar” voice and he fixed the computer and I paid a reasonable amount for the service. He then gave me a number that would go directly to him and avoid all the phone “garbage” of hitting “1”, “2”, etc. So the next time I had problems, naturally I called that number……WRONG! That’s how it started. My bank was able to retrieve what I had paid Geeks Planet, Inc for $530 and I learned my lesson. This morning I received 11 hang up calls between 8:30 and noon! THAT IS A PAIN! To me it’s also a form of stalking. And, after every phone call I make or receive, within 2-3 minutes I get a return hang-up call. I’m wise to all of it now and I change my bank account numbers every 6 mo. and I order new debit cards as well. Thank you for letting me vent!
Our answering machine was left the following which is a NEW computer SCAM.
It was left on 9/15/17.
We looked up the number and it is a SCAM phone number. But, it for us is a new scam. Luckily, we let our answering machine do the work so we can report these scam calls.
Our answering machine received the following message: It sounds like a female computer generated voice, ‘A computer technical support few months ago. We are calling to refund your money as the company has been ordered to close down. Please call our toll free number 888-608-6976, to get your refund. Repeating again, 888-608-6976.’
I just got what sounded like the same call with a female-generated voice as well just a few minutes ago . She indicated it was regarding a refund of Microsoft software that I already purchased. Since I never believe any of these calls, I wanted to check to see how widespread this one was. Thank you!