Kingston Council: "Beware of computer virus phone scams"
By RachelEngland | Friday, October 28, 2011, 12:03
Kingston Council has issued a warning to local residents regarding a spate of computer virus phone scams taking place in the borough.
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Residents are asked to remain vigilant over computer phone scams
The scam involves residents being phoned by someone claiming to work for a well-known computer firm who advises them that their computer may have a virus. The caller then directs the resident to a part of the computer's operating system which seems to indicate that there is a problem that needs to be fixed. The caller then offers to fix the 'problem' for a fee.
Furthermore, allowing the scammer contact with the computer gives them potential access to personal information like bank and identity details.
The scam is targeting older, more vulnerable individuals, so residents are asked to ensure that friends and relatives know not to give callers any personal information or account details, and to hang up immediately, should they receive such a phone call.
This type of scam can be reported to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or at www.actionfraud.org.uk
Comments
yeah they tell you your pc's got virus, you give them access and then they usually put the virus, or the virus is non-existent. then they make you pay to "remove" it. neat trick.
i got a call like that, too. it already sounded scam at the start of the call. told the man i'm not buying it and hung up. when i looked up the phone number online, as i expected, it's connected to scams. looks like i didn't need to report it because a lot of people already did in this link http://tinyurl.com/c379qng
By mimicker at 22:53 on 10/11/11
ReportI told them the only virus in my house was on the phone with me right now.
Seriously though, if you wont of cant learn enough about computers to know better you should maybe be using a toy compujter that hackers & scammers dont care about...like an iPAD.
By Rik57 at 18:33 on 28/10/11
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