Beware Microsoft 'fix' offer
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June 25, 2013 |
There have been reports of Boundary County
businesses receiving calls, obviously foreign
and likely from India, informing that a problem
with a local computer is causing them problems
with their computer servers.
Then they go on to tell you that they will walk
you through the fix.
While not falling for the proffered assistance,
at least one local business, fearing their
systems might actually be infected with a virus,
shut all their computers down and called in tech
support, which checked each computer and found
nothing.
That same business has received several
subsequent calls, insisting they accept "help"
and follow their instructions ... they tried
telling them them their machines were not
infected, tied hanging up, but the calls kept
coming, sometimes several times a day ... until
they threatened to report the calls to police.
While it's not certain, following the caller's
instruction is not likely to fix anything, a far
likelier scenario is that they'll walk those who
fall for the scam into installing a virus on
their machines, potentially one that will allow
them to monitor your computer activity and
access passwords, account numbers and other
sensitive data.
While a report to police or the sheriff's office
can do little, both agencies are aware of the
potential threat imposed by such scams.
If you receive such a
call, you are advised
to visit the FBI's Internet Crime Center, www.ic3.gov;
where you can report the scam on-line and add to
the national database of information needed to
find and prosecute those responsible, no matter
where in the world they might be hiding. |
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