The other day while on her computer a screen came up with a warning that her computer may be compromised. There was a number and she called it, it was for California Techies and that is a real company, and the phone number they gave her is the one on their site. She signed up for $20 a month and they spent some time on her computer doing some sort of clean up, not exactly sure what, and I didn’t think much about it and she got detailed paper work emailed to her. But today I started to wonder if a legit company would send a warning screen like that, oh and Mom said she could not close it out when it happened. She just dropped me off at my apartment after we had breakfast and on the way back she told me of the conversation she had with the customer service rep, he asked if she wanted automatic renewel after a year and she said no because she was 80 and didn’t know for sure if she would still be around. The rep then asked her what she would do with her money. I worked as a phone rep at a bank for a year, I can’t imagine asking a customer that and it really has got me worried. And how would he know if she had any money?
Sometihing just doesn’t seem right here, but I can’t figure out how it would be a scam. The number is legit and she has called it, I know a phone number can be spoofed to fool people receiving a call, but there is no way to reroute a call from her phone to another number. And if it is a scam why has nothing been stolen, its been 2 days. The credit card charge, through ProPay, hasn’t even gone through
Her credit card is one thing, but the scammer was on her computer for almost an hour, if he got her logins for her 401k account, is that money in any danger? Could he just withdrawing money, or aren’t there several steps even the legit owner would have to take for that? I’m not waiting for an answer to act on it, that is the first company I told her to call, I’m just wondering
Those are always scams. Think about this: How would anyone out there in the vast Internet universe suddenly know that your mom’s individual computer in her house has a problem? Are they psychic? The idea is to get her to panic and call the listed number, which is what she did. Sometimes they ask you to click a link, and it is the link that downloads the virus.
I know. I am going to blame this one the fact that I’ve only had 3-4 hours sleep for 3 days in a row. But I still feel like an idiot, I’ve had those pop-ups happen to me. And I knew right away they were scams.
It’s all OK now, her credit card and bank account are with the same company, and she called her 401k company and they are on it.
I don’t know what state you’re in, but I searched the California list of registered businesses for “California Techies” and came up with nothing.
Get her an ad blocker - that should get rid of the pop-ups that might look legit. I assume you put a good piece of antivirus software on her computer. Teach her to run that if she gets nervous about any such message.
One other thing that has to be done. The scammer did install some sort of program on her computer. Not sure what exactly, I know there is a phone number now on the bottom of her screen. I know a bit about computers but exactly what would I be looking for, would it in a list of installed programs?
To Voyager, she is going to go back to Avast, she had a subscription which was about to run out, the scammer removed it.
I think you can check for recently installed programs in Add/Remove Programs, or something similar. From there you may be able to “Uninstall” whatever was recently added. It may not get everything, but will likely get enough to disable the primary function of whatever the scammer installed.
I know you can do that, but is it possible that it is somehow hidden and not listed there? Would an Avast scan catch all of that type of thing? Should I reinstall Windows or is that really necessary?
This is 100% scam. Not only did your Mom lose money which she probably won’t ever get back, the scammers may have installed software on her computer which allows them to access it at anytime, without her knowing. This means her computer and her life is totally at risk. Even if she changes all passwords on all accounts, the scammers will find out what those are. By now, they have acquired total access to ALL online accounts.
The only way to fix this is:
(1) Take your computer to a local professional, tell them what happened, and have them do a thorough cleaning. If possible, the computer should be restored to factory settings. I realize this might not be desirable, so do what you can. Or toss the computer and buy a new one.
(2) AFTER this cleaning, contact your bank(s) and all credit cards to cancel and re-issue all. Follow your bank’s instructions. Change the passwords for ALL online accounts, even if they are not financial ones.
Last advice: Learn not to be gullible. Just because someone makes a claim does not mean it is true. There are crooks everywhere. Verify with trusted sources (no, not the ones that say, “You can trust us!”). Check before action if in doubt.
You can call me racist if you wish, but if you follow this advice, you will avoid 80% of today’s scams.
If the tech/clerk has an Indian accent, assume the worst, and do not engage. 80% of scams originate in India.
For more info, I suggest you search for Jim Browning on YouTube. He shows exactly how this and other scams work. You may even find the exact screen your Mom saw and the script she heard in Jim’s samples.
For more good sources, do a YouTube search for Pierogi, Pleasant Green, and Trilogy Media. There are active White Hat hackers out there trying to combat this scourge, filling in where governments fear to tread.
She hasn’t lost any money, thankfully, the charge has been blocked by her bank. The card has been cancelled. Her 401k company is also investigating and will not allow any withdrawals
But as far as the software, it would be undetected by a scan by the pro version of Avast?
