A scam that has been around the block a few times is back again with some new twists. The revamped scam has been extremely successful duping many people to fall prey to it.
Breakdown of the Scam:
- The victim receives a call from a person to claiming to be from the security department of a large company such as Microsoft , HP or Dell.
- The caller claims there is a new security threat that they have detected that is very dangerous and impacts all computers. They will claim they are alerting the victim as a courtesy or may even claim the victims computer is already infected. The caller will offer walk the victim through “fixing” the vulnerability.
- The caller will direct the victim to the Event Viewer or another section of the computer that shows “errors” as proof there is a problem. Regardless of what the victim reads back the caller will use this information as “confirmation” that the vulnerability is on the computer.
- The caller directs the intended victim to a website that provides Remote Control software. Lately this has been ammyy.com but could be other sites. While the remote control software itself is usually legitimate tool, in the hands of the scammers it is a backdoor into the victim’s computer to take it over and install malicious software and/or steal personal data from the computer.
- Once the malicious software is installed, they will often run fake antivirus software that will indicate hundreds of infected files. For a price, ranging from $49 to $150 or more, they will “clean” the infection. Now the scammers have the Credit Card information, software collecting personal information (like passwords and bank websites visited) and a backdoor to access your computer through the remote software.
What to Do if You Have Already Fallen Victim:
- Immediately disconnect your computer from the network and Internet. Pull the network cable from the back of the computer or turn off the wireless. This will prevent further damage to the computer and ensure the scammer can’t reconnect.
- Have the system professionally looked at. Depending on the damage you may have to have your data backed up, the hard drive formatted (erased) and the operating system and programs reinstalled.
- Contact the Credit Bureaus and Credit Card Company to report it. Letting them know allows a fraud alert for your account to be issued to try and block any fraudulent charges or identity theft type transactions.
If you need assistance call our office 383-2895
