If someone wearing an official-looking uniform rang your doorbell unannounced, stated they were from your local car dealership’s service department, and said they needed your car keys to fix a recently discovered problem, would you do it; would you give them the keys to your car?
That may sound far-fetched, but people do it all the time with their computers.
Think about this scenario: if someone called you on the phone, said they were from the “Microsoft Windows Technical Department” and claimed they needed to remotely repair your computer because it had been hacked, would you believe them?
I hope not, because it’s a scam. Someone contacts me at least once a week, stating they have received such a call, and asking if it was legitimate.
One of my jobs lately has been helping someone who fell for the scam, gave the bad guys their credit card number, had money stolen and had the bad guys lock them out of their own computer, losing everything there.
The calls go something like this: the Windows Technical Department’s “Central Server” has been receiving error warnings from your computer, indicating that your computer is in danger of crashing or being hacked.
The helpful tech support guy, speaking with a great sense of urgency, then asks you to “test” your computer by pressing certain key…
