Avoid Scams!

Beware of Phone & Website Popup Scammers

Telephone and email/website popup scams are on the rise! Many people are being contacted (by phone or by email/website popups) by scammers fraudulently claiming to be from Microsoft/Amazon/Paypal/IRS or any of a dozen other companies. If you ever receive this type of call/email/website popup, here is what to look out for:

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♦ COMPUTER SECURITY SCAMS

-The caller/email/popup uses urgent wording and claims that your computer is infected or some other problem has occurred

-They request remote access to your computer, at which point they will access certain normal systems in the computer and claim that what you are seeing represents a serious problem that only they can fix

-The caller claims to be able to fix your computer, but only if you pay them $$$ or give them your credit card number

-There are also website popups that will give you a false warning saying that your computer is infected, or that you are owed a refund, and that you should call the phone number displayed. The person who answers then proceeds to follow basically the same format as the points above. NEVER CALL THE NUMBER!

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♦ VARIOUS SERVICE REFUND SCAMS (Microsoft, Amazon, Comcast/CenturyLink, other companies)

-The caller or email claims you are due some kind of refund for a service/product you never purchased or that was accidentally charged to you

-They request remote access to your computer, and they will ask you to sign into your bank account and pretend to give you a refund, at which point they will pretend to accidentally refund you more than they were supposed to

-They tell you to go to the bank to send them back money they over-refunded to you OR

-They will use your bank's website to send money to themselves

-IMPORTANT: They only make it LOOK like they put too much money into your account, it's a trick done by changing the text on the bank website to show a higher balance

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-NO LEGITIMATE COMPANY WILL EVER CALL YOU ABOUT YOUR COMPUTER'S SECURITY OR TO OFFER A REFUND FOR A SERVICE/PRODUCT YOU NEVER PURCHASED

-ANY POPUPS/EMAILS TELLING YOU TO CALL A NUMBER FOR SECURITY OR REFUND PURPOSES ARE SCAMS

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If you receive one of these calls, do not listen to what the caller has to say. Tell them you know what they're up to, and hang up immediately.

If you see one of these popups asking you to call a phone number, NEVER CALL THE NUMBER! They are 100% of the time scammers trying to trick you.

Please spread the word by forwarding this on to others who could benefit from this message.

If you have any questions/concerns about this issue, please contact me and we can make sure your computer is secure.