3 On Your Side: A Warning For Computer Users
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's a scam that we've alerted you about in the past, but recently it seems to be making a comeback. 3 On Your Side consumer reporter Jim Donovan has a warning for computer users.
Sandra Seip's phone rang at 11 p.m and when she picked up the phone there was a woman on the other end telling her there was a problem.
"Something was wrong with my computer and that I need to go to the computer immediately," said Seip.
Seip hung up, but a half hour later the phone rang again. Then the phone rang again, at 1 a.m. when Sandra was asleep. The woman on the other lined claimed to be from a Windows server company.
"She kept insisting that someone was trying to hack into my computer," said Seip.
"It should always be a red flag if a tech support company is contacting you through the phone through an unsolicited phone call, claiming there's an issue with your computer," said Better Business Bureau spokesperson, Caitlin Driscoll.
Against her better judgment, Seip logged on to her computer and gave the caller remote access.
And things went from bad to worse, the caller disabled her perfectly fine computer and in the end Seip got hit with $300 in credit card charges for bogus computer scans.
The Better Business Bureau says they've been getting more and more calls about this lately.
"Always remember anytime you hand over remote access to your computer, you're opening yourself up to identity theft and possible financial loss," said Driscoll.
3 On Your Side gets at least a dozen inquiries about this scam each month. Seip eventually got her computer fixed by a reputable company and her credit card company is reversing the charges for the worthless computer scans.
If you get a call like this, just hang up. It's always a scam!
You may also be interested in these stories: