Contact 13 Consumer Alert
Scammers trying to gain access to your computer over the phone
Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Viruses, spam emails or spyware, so many things can wreak havoc on your computer. That's why scam artists use that threat to scare up victims. Action News talked to one Valley woman who got a call that something was wrong with her laptop and the caller could fix it.
But turns out, it's all just a front for a scam.
"I generally don't answer my phone to numbers I don't know but I've got so many resumes out there," said Deanna Boldin.
That's why she picked up the phone recently, thinking it could be a job lead. But instead the man on the other end claimed to be from Microsoft.
"He said his name was Matthew and he had some kind of accent," said Deanna.
She says he told her he needed access to her computer to clean it up. But Deanna knew better, especially when she looked at the number he was calling from.
"2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 bam! I was like ok," said Deanna.
She hung up the phone and got onto her computer to email Action News, worried others might fall for his ploy.
"There are so many people out there that are naive," said Deanna.
We called Microsoft and they're very aware of this scam. They say they never call any of their customers, unless a customer calls them first and opens a case.
"I've actually already told my family if this guy calls give him no information he's a scammer," said Deanna.
She already knows what she's going to say if he calls back.
"I'm onto you, lose my number," said Deanna.
Here's the Contact 13 bottom line. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center looks into these type of scams. They say they've had hundreds of reports of phone calls like the one Deanna got. They encourage everyone who may have received a similar call to file a complaint through ic3.gov
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