Monday, April 25, 2011

Computer Maintenance Phone Scam

          There are many scams on the internet and fortunately we are well protected from most of them.

          This week I received two phone calls from  scammers. It works like this. They phone you and say that they are computer maintenance and they have an appointment to fix your computer. They pick an easy topic and quote a good deal. They will fix the problem remotely but you have to open your computer where they specify so they can do the work. So you  open parts of your computer so these guys can get your pass words and get around security. They are then able to access your accounts no matter what they may be. They could also set up an identity using your information.

         I received two calls this week. The first one my wife answered and the English was so poor that she hung up and had no idea what they were talking about. My wife also answered the second call and this time she understood what was being said and quickly told them that they must have the wrong number as we didn't have any appointment for computer maintenance. When she told me about the second call I knew immediately that it was a scam as I had just read about it in the paper.

       So it's kind of creepy to know that the scammers have been so close to you.

       I hope that none of you gets taken in by this scam. We all have little problems with our computers. We all want things to be a little speedier. These guys promise you an easy fix. Beware.