Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Scam or not?
I've just received a phone call claiming to be from BT saying that they've received an error report from my computer indicating I'm being hacked. They want me to work with them through my computer, giving them access, to rectify it. I thought this might be a scam so said no.
But it might not be? They do have my phone number after all and know that I have BT as my internet provider.
I also received such a call a while back from someone claiming to be from Microsoft.
Any else had such a call? I really am worried that the call is the scam but then again also worried that I might have been hacked!
Advice please!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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Thanks, I thought so and put the phone down. Just wanted to see what others thought.
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Permalink Reply by Sharon on
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If BT is your provider it may be worth reporting the call to them so that they are aware of the scam, also for reassurance.
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Permalink Reply by ThaiDi on
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I also think it's a scam. I don't see how BT would be receiving reports on what is happening to everyone's computers on their networks.
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Permalink Reply by Philip on
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You may also receive calls telling you your computer is infected, you were in a car accident, etc. All scams. The really annoying one is from your bank, which is legit. They ask you for your security information(never full PIN tho) They say they believe your account or card may be compromised. You ask them to prove who they are; they can't or won't. You put down the phone. They freeze your account, until you phone them back.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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It's never your bank calling. It's the evil thieves. They exploit the way phones work - that until they hang up, the line stays open for several minutes. Phone Co's are being asked to cut this time down to a few seconds, as thousands of people have been robbed via this scam. You think you've hung up, you call the security number on your card and of course get put through to another person at Scam Central who tells you to trust them. Then you end up giving up all your details, they send a courier for your card and off they go.
There was an account told recently of a woman who was caught like this, had heard of the phone thing and was suspicious, somehow they persuaded her they were the cops and they wanted her to help them catch some scammers. She was to go to Selfridges and buy a watch, they were following her and would then entrap the bad guys. Talking all the time on the phone, she took a taxi from Surrey to Knightsbridge, got to the Selfridges counter to buy the 'between £10 and £15k Rolex' that would be bait. Luckily the Selfridges people had seen it before and stopped her. But she sounded very sussed, not gullible - just got caught by the excitement of helping catch the bad guys.
If your bank calls, you can ask them for some security info - like when did you last draw cash, or what was your last address. If you're someone who throws unshredded bank statements in the bin, this wouldn't help, of course.
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Another case was in the newspaper, the poor woman called her daughter's work place (or so she thought) after someone claiming to be her bank had called and she suspected a scam. She was told that her daughter was busy, what was her problem, could they help and they did a similar sort of thing, ended up being conned her out of her whole savings.
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Dear Ruth
Its a sca,! dont touch them with a "barge pole" my partner was contacted by someone "from Microsoft" and they tried to get him to "buy" a policy to speed up his computer and he logged on to his computer and followed their instructions which gave them remote access to his PC! they made his screen go completely blank but when the penny finally dropped and he refused to give them his card details, they hung up saying that his computer was not going to work properly . of course he was frightened to use it incase they had put some sort of virus on there. He contacted his bank First Direct who were very good , they temporarily suspended his account until he had "cleaned" they gave him information about what to do, it took us all day to download antiviruses and and clean his PC.
so no don't do it!
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Once those trojans get onboard, it's virtually impossible to get them off. Anti-virus software doesn't always find them. They can then lock up your computer and demand money to unlock it - usually a 'small' amount, eg £200. People pay up, rather than scrap the machine, it's just the right amount for the theft to work. Or they upload 'anti-virus' free software that they charge a monthly fee for, which gradually increases.
It's all another reason to have all your data backed up up to a separate drive - an external hard drive, or a big memory stick - not kept plugged in. Include your emails, you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
You can pick up nasties online too - the dodgier the site eg those Torrents, the more likely you are to get more than you asked for. Same as clicking on odd emails - anything with links or Zip files is dodgy unless you know who it's from. Especially offers of Russian brides.
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If you have access to another computer you can usually google it and get a download that will sort it out. A friend had this happen( didn't update his free anti virus or malware progs) he took it to a high street tech shop and was quoted lots...have to clean the hard drive and reinstall all progs etc. I google it and got a free download which sorted it in minutes. Its always advisable not to click on pop ups. Clicking on paid ads on Fb or Yahoo pages can also introduce lots of spam, so not a good idea either.
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