A
south county woman recently received a call from someone claiming to be
from Microsoft who says he needed to conduct a scan of her computer to
look for viruses. To do that, the caller says he needed remote access to
log in to her computer. Once these scammers have access to the computer
they can install malicious software, steal personal information, or
direct consumers to fraudulent websites where they are asked to enter
their credit card information.In this case, no information was given and no loss occurred. The Sheriff's Office cautions the public to avoid these types of calls. Microsoft will not call you to conduct this type of service. To protect yourself, the Better Business Bureau recommends contacting your service provider directly, install virus detection software, don't trust cold calls, and find a computer repair company you can trust.
(from the KVEC 920AM daily newsletter.)
If I get a call like that, I'd take down the caller's information and report the call to Callercenter.com to raise a warning. I'd also report it to the FTC so the agency can investigate on who's behind the scam.
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