Phone and Internet Scams

[slamjet]

I had an unpleasant experience with a friends computer and how he ignored his common sense, much to his computer's demise.  It took a bit over three weeks for me to figure out how to fix his computer's issue, mainly because I was afraid of making a wrong move and making things worse.  In the end, I was able to fix his system, luckily.  I posted this on my Facebook and thought I'd share it here:

A word of warning about and old scam that I just had to deal with. It's called the "Microsoft Phone Scam" or the "Syskey Scam." This is where Microsoft or other Tech Support call or email you to tell you they need to fix your computer by having them grant remote access to your system. What they do is lock it up by changing the system key then extort lots of money from you to fix it. And it's done on both PC's and Apple systems.

A good friend fell for this and it took a few weeks of research and building intestinal fortitude to finally get access to his system, clean, and fix it (they even disabled his antivirus). Frankly, he was lucky that this scammer wasn't too sophisticated. Other ransomware scammers can make it impossible to salvage your system by encrypting the whole disk.

Please be assured that NO ONE will call you about your system except bad actors. Don't ever give ANYONE access to your system. Your computer and phone holds more personal information and passwords than you realize. It goes without saying that your life will be made miserable if you get scammed.

So please use your common sense, jealously guard your computer and smart phone:
> DO NOT open any attachments that you are not expecting, especially ZIP attachments;
> DO NOT click on links strange or funny email addresses;
> DO NOT click on links in emails send from family or friends. They've been hacked and the email is phishin for systems to lock up
The internet is full of traps so be smart and be safe.

Here is an article from Microsoft about the scam,

Here's another one from Apple,

and their community board.

[anatess2]

My cousin got his identity stolen by some dude in California managing to move my cousin's phone number to his phone and receiving all the texts from the bank.  He was then able to change the bank's password and started taking money out.  He even went to a teller to withdraw money from the account when the online withdrawals got maxed!

[Guest]

No one will call you to help you claim a prize you've won. They'll ask for lots of money to cover the cost of doing so... it's a scam. 

(Seems obvious, but my mom fell for this one and lost a lot of money.)

[mordorbund]

51 minutes ago, Eowyn said:

No one will call you to help you claim a prize you've won. They'll ask for lots of money to cover the cost of doing so... it's a scam. 

(Seems obvious, but my mom fell for this one and lost a lot of money.)

@Palerider !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I demand my money back!

Or my prize.

[Palerider]

On 3/1/2017 at 2:38 PM, mordorbund said:

@Palerider !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I demand my money back!

Or my prize.

All dues are non refundable.    Lol

[Still_Small_Voice]

I had some guy with a foreign accent claiming to be from Microsoft and Hewlett Packard call me claiming my computer was sending them messages and that I should go to a certain website.  This was a scam and I knew it.  I played along with him for a while and then asked him if he wanted my computer password that I logged in with.  The pass word I told him it was hack hack back attack.  Then I said, "You are trying to hack my computer."  

The man denied my accusation and then I just hung up on him.  I think I have received three of these calls the past several months.