It’s an exciting time of year! Between the Old Soldier’s Reunion, Tractor Runs and County Fairs, people are really busy whether they are part of the events or an attendee. A lot of things happen and it’s easy to get lost in the mundane. So when we get an email reminder that it’s time to pay a bill, we either pay it right away so it’s not overdue or we put it off until later, and deal with it along with all the other bills and letters we have to answer. This is how the latest scam works. There are a couple of variations on this, but the basic scam is that you get an email reminding you that your fees for your Norton/McAffee/Avast antivirus account are due and you need to call help given a free number to talk to. an agent. Some emails tell you that the amount due has been taken from your account and you should call if this is a mistake.
Either way, you find yourself on the phone with an “agent”, who tells you that, in order to “fix the problem with your account,” you need to follow their instructions to get them into your computer. Once you do this, they have access to everything stored on your computer, including the history of everything you use the computer to do. They will ask you to go to your bank’s website and log into your account. They can see everything that’s happening on the screen, so when you type in your username and password, they have it. At this point, the transfer of funds will begin. You transfer a payment to them, they claim you added a zero by mistake or got the decimal wrong, giving them hundreds more than they owe. They will “return” the money to you, and lo! They made the SAME mistake! Now they claim you own hundreds, if not thousands that aren’t yours, and they need you to cash it in and send it to them in the form of gift cards or Google Play/Apple Store cards. Or you can do a wire transfer, if you insist. The dollar amount specified is determined by your own savings or credit account balance. When they “refund” you the money, according to the bank staff I spoke with, the “refund” is actually a transfer from your savings or line of credit to your checking. So it’s really wired, so it’s just your money all the way.
There are two ways to avoid this:
1.) Remember that if you have an online account with a company that will provide you with goods or services, that account will NOT reside on your computer. It resides on the company’s server. So if there’s a “problem with your account,” that problem can’t be solved by letting someone else get into your computer.
2.) Never, ever use a phone number or link provided in an unsolicited email or phone call. If you receive an email telling you that you owe/owe and you need to click or call them to verify / correct the issue, use the phone number or email address / web link you used before or find it yourself.
If you feel you are being scammed by the computer, turn it off immediately and call someone you trust to look into it. The first thing a scammer or a fake alert will do is tell you not to turn off your computer, and that’s because they can’t access it when it’s turned off.
These scams work because people don’t realize how gullible you are and how gullible they are. They depend on you being too busy to really pay attention, or they depend on you to be afraid to make a quick move that could make them money. No matter what happens, if you feel that little tickle in your gut telling you something is wrong, listen to it. Take a step back, take a deep breath and ask yourself what is bothering you? Then hang up the phone, turn off the computer and take it to someone you trust for repair.
