12/01/11……….Telephone scammers target computer users

OXFORDSHIRE’S Trading Standards team is warning people about conmen who are cold calling residents and claiming that their computers are infected with viruses which they can fix.

The number of complaints received by Trading Standards has risen in the last month with 23 people reporting the scam since the beginning of December.

These conmen often say they work for Microsoft or Windows, although many different names are used. They will know the victim’s name and address and will suggest that their computer is at serious risk from the VIRUSES or MALWARE with which it is INFECTED.

SOURCE – Press release

STEALING INFORMATION

They may ask the consumer to shut down and re-start the computer or direct them straight to a program called WINDOWS EVENT VIEWER. This will list errors, some of which will be labelled CRITICAL. In fact, there is nothing wrong with the computer and the program is simply being used to con the victim into thinking they have a problem.

If the consumer falls for the scam, they will then be directed to a website to download a program which will allow the caller to control the computer to fix it. All that is actually happening is that the conmen are being given access to all the data stored on the computer, which could include personal, banking and identity information.

The caller will then demand payment for the so-called service provided. The victim will be asked for a direct debit or credit card payment and may also be asked to sign up to a direct debit payment scheme for ongoing protection. If they refuse to pay, the criminal on the other end of the phone may threaten to crash their computer. Trading Standards has received reports of up to