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  • Geebo 9:00 am on February 1, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , , , pop-ups, ,   

    Scam Round Up: Scammer dresses as cop and more 

    Scam Round Up: Scammer dresses as cop and more

    By Greg Collier

    This week on the round up, we’re bringing you three scams that may not be new, but have a new aspect to them.

    ***

    For our first scam, we have a Nebraska woman who lost $53,000 to a pop-up scam. She got a pop-up on her computer that said someone had used her personal information for online gambling. The pop-up also had a number to call. The woman called the number, and the person she spoke with claimed to be from her bank. She was told she needed to transfer her money to a separate bank account to protect her money. The new aspect of this scam is that she was told when the person who supposedly stole her information tried to take money from her account, they would be arrested. Instead, she transferred her money to scammers.

    Never call any phone number that appears on a computer pop-up. Those numbers only go to scammers, no matter what the pop-up might say.

    ***

    Our next scam shows how well-informed scammers can be. In Los Alamos, New Mexico, retirees of the historic Los Alamos National Lab, were recently told their prescription insurance would no longer be taken at Kroger pharmacies. This story doesn’t get any more local. However, it hasn’t escaped the purview of scammers. Residents have reported that they’ve received phone calls from people impersonating the prescription insurance company. These callers have been asking for personal information like Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

    Health insurance companies typically only call customers when the customer has called them first. Also, the health insurance companies typically don’t ask a customer for their Social Security number, as most insurance companies use their own internal ID numbers for their customers.

    If you get a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from your insurance company, hang up and call them directly at the customer service number on your health insurance card.

    ***

    Lastly, we have a disturbing version of the arrest warrant scam, as if that weren’t disturbing enough. In the arrest warrant scam, scammers will pose as local police and call their victims. The scammers will tell their victims they’ve missed jury duty and a warrant has been issued for the victim’s arrest. The victim will then be instructed to make payment through gift cards or pre-paid debit cards. But this scam usually only takes place over the phone.

    In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this scam is said to have stepped into the real world. A man dressed as an officer from the local County Sheriff’s office approached a woman and told her she would need to buy $8,000 in gift cards to avoid arrest for missing jury duty.

    It’s unclear how the victim in this news story was approached, however, if you’re approached by someone you think may be impersonating an officer, there are steps you can take. If you’re approached at your vehicle or home, call 911 and ask them if you’re being contacted by an actual officer. Police dispatch will have a record of it if they are an actual officer.

    No police officer would ever stop someone and threaten them with arrest if they didn’t pay a fine then and there. Police would also never ask for payment in gift cards.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 30, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: American Express, , , Macy's, , pop-ups, , , ,   

    Scammers try to scam victim again 

    Scammers try to scam victim again

    By Greg Collier

    In the 1984 sci-fi classic ‘The Terminator’, one of the protagonists describes the Terminator by saying, “It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop… ever.” That’s an apt description of scammers as well. They will use any opportunity to scam someone, no matter what the cost may be to the victim. And if that victim has been scammed before, then that just means they can be scammed again, according to scammers. Even if the intended victim didn’t fall for the scam, that doesn’t mean scammers won’t try to scam them again.

    A Rhode Island widow says she was scrolling Facebook on her computer when she started receiving a number of pop-ups that said her computer was infected and to call Microsoft at the number listed. Avid readers of this blog will recognize this as the pop-up scam. The phone number doesn’t actually go to Microsoft and instead goes to a scammer’s call center.

    After calling the number, the widow was told that her American Express card had been compromised, and she was about to be charged $16,000 for a fraudulent purchase. She was then connected to another scammer posing as an American Express agent. That scammer told her she would need to buy $8000 in Macy’s gift cards to override the fraudulent charge. The victim went and bought the gift cards while the scammer stayed on the line with her.

    The scammer told her to scratch the backs of the cards and give him the code numbers. The victim gave him one before realizing this may be a scam. Instead of giving the remaining numbers to the scammer, she went to the police. But the story doesn’t end there.

    The victim didn’t want anyone else to fall victim to the same scam she did. She posted a warning about it on Facebook. It didn’t take long for her to receive a comment from another scammer. This scammer said that the FBI helped them get their money back and the victim would need to text a phone number left by the scammer. The supposed FBI agent kept asking the victim for personal information in exchange for assistance. Thankfully, the victim realized this was a scam and ceased all communications with the scammer. Scammers never stop scamming.

    While the first scam is one that we’ve gone into detail before, the second scam is not so well known. That scam looks for scam victims on social media, and will try to send victims to a phone number or social media account that can supposedly help a victim get their money back. This is just another scam. Once money is lost to a scam, no recovery service can get it back, no matter how much someone promises you they can.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 1, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , pop-ups, ,   

    Microsoft pop-up scam claims more elderly victims 

    Microsoft pop-up scam claims more elderly victims

    By Greg Collier

    The technical support scam has been around almost as long as the internet has been commercially available. The scam can take many forms, but they all have the same goal. They all try to trick their victims into calling a phony technical support number. From there, any number of things can happen, from identity theft to the complete loss of a victim’s savings.

    However, there is one particular technical support scam that has become so prevalent lately, it might just be the second most common scam behind the arrest warrant scam. As we’ve said previously, barely a day goes by where we don’t see a report about this scam in multiple locations.

    The scam in question is the Microsoft pop-up scam. This is where a computer user either goes to a website or downloads an app that will trigger a pop-up telling them their computer has been compromised, and they need to call Microsoft support at the number listed on the pop-up. The elderly have largely been targeted in this scam, and many elderly victims have lost thousands to hundreds of thousands in this scam. It’s become such an issue recently, the FBI have issued a warning about the scam.

    The most recent victims who have come forward about the scam are an elderly couple from Michigan. They received one of these pop-ups on their computer stating the computer had been infected with a virus, and they need to call Microsoft immediately at the number given. They called the number and scammers told them they had to convert the money in their bank account to Bitcoin. The couple ended up sending $3000 to the scammers through a Bitcoin ATM.

    Microsoft has assured users that any legitimate pop-up from Microsoft about a virus will never include a phone number. The company recommends that if you receive one of the pop-ups with a phone number to press CTRL+ALT+DEL on your keyboard, clicking on Task Manager, and closing any programs they were using when the pop-up appeared.

    If you end up talking to one of these phony support centers, they’ll ask for remote access to your computer. You should never allow anyone you don’t know personally to have remote access to your computer, as that access is only used to further the scam or steal more information.

    If you have lost money to this scam, contact your local police department right away, then register a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov.

    If someone in your family or someone in your community is an elderly computer user, please warn them about this scam.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on November 2, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , pop-ups, ,   

    Computer pop-up scams are an everyday danger 

    Computer pop-up scams are an everyday danger

    By Greg Collier

    Recently, we mentioned that hardly a day goes by where we don’t see stories about the arrest warrant scam. Now, there’s another scam we keep seeing consistently on a daily basis that’s stealing thousands of dollars at a time from its victims. It’s the computer pop-up scam.

    This is the scam where pop-up windows, notices, or other kind of messages show up on your computer saying that you have a virus, or you’ve been hacked in some way. These notifications will almost always say not to turn off your computer and will provide a phone number to call to resolve the problem. These pop-ups will often imitate legitimate looking notices from within Windows itself.

    The pop-ups often show up after users click on a scam ad, visiting a shady website, or installing software from an unreliable source.

    Unfortunately, too many people are falling prey to this scam. For example, a man in North Carolina lost $14,000 after receiving these pop-ups. He called the number listed that claimed to be from Microsoft. He was told this was related to a banking issue, and was asked where he banked. The man told the supposed customer service rep that he banked at Bank of America. He was then told he was being connected to B of A’s fraud department.

    While he was on the phone with the phone B of A rep, the man was directed to a clone of the bank’s website, where he was shown a phony transaction that said $14,000 had been transferred out of his account. To stop the transfer, he was instructed to wire money the money to a third party who would catch the bank hackers. Once the man wired the $14,000, it was gone for good.

    The best way to protect yourself from malicious pop-ups is to avoid downloading random software and apps to your computer. You should also be wary of clicking on ads from social media, as anyone can take out ad space on Facebook. Lastly, you should not click on any links sent to you by anyone you don’t know personally.

    If you still get one of these pop-ups, do not call the number listed. It’s not going to be Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, or Google on the other line. You should restart your computer and if you keep getting the pop-up, run a scan using Windows Defender on your PC to make sure you don’t have any malware. Below, we’ll include a video on what to do if you receive any of the pop-ups.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 28, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , pop-ups, ,   

    Couple loses $350K In Apple scam 

    By Greg Collier

    To be honest, there’s not a lot of information about this story. The report that we’ve read spends more time discussing the amount lost to the scammers, which, to be fair, is a lot. However, we can assume how the scam worked from previous scams in a similar vein. But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

    An elderly couple from the state of Michigan are said to have lost $350,000 to a tech support scam. The couple reportedly withdrew money from several different accounts to send money to the scammers through a Bitcoin ATM.

    The county sheriff’s office where this scam took place says that they are familiar with scams like this, but this is the largest amount lost they’ve ever seen.

    What we do know about the scam is that the couple received a message on their computer that appeared to come from Apple Computers with a phone number to call.

    This sounds a lot like the pop-up scams that claim to be from Microsoft. These pop-ups, which can lock up your computer, say things like your computer has a virus, or is in danger of being hacked. These pop-ups usually also instruct victims to call a phone number to resolve the issue.

    When a victim calls one of these phony customer service numbers, they’ll be told some outlandish tale about how their computer is being hacked, and the hackers are about to steal all the victim’s money. The victim will then be instructed that in order to protect their money, they need to move it somewhere safe. This is when the scammers will direct the victim to withdraw their money from their bank accounts and send it to the scammers in the forms of gift cards, cryptocurrency, or some other form of untraceable payment.

    What many victims don’t know is that companies like Apple, Microsoft, or Google don’t really know whether your computer has been compromised or not. If you receive one of these pop-up messages, turn your computer off. Hold down the power button until it turns off, if you need to. If the pop-ups continue, you may need to run a malware scan using a product like Malwarebytes. Malware and viruses are more likely to affect computers that run Microsoft Windows than Apple computers.

    If you still can’t get your computer to function properly, try taking the device to a computer repair store. It will cost you a lot less in the end than sending the money to scammers.

    But whatever you do, do not call the phone number in the pop-up message.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 6, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , pop-ups, ,   

    Scammer drives elderly victim to Bitcoin ATM 

    Scammer drives elderly victim to Bitcoin ATM

    By Greg Collier

    Scammers showing up at the door of their elderly victims is unfortunately not new. We’ve seen this mostly with the grandparent scam, where the scammers pose as couriers picking up the money to supposedly bail out one of the victim’s grandchildren. We’ve also seen an increasing number of scammers who get their victims to give the scammers their money through Bitcoin ATMs. This mostly happens with shut off scams, where the scammers pose as power companies, threatening the victims with their service being shut off immediately if they don’t pay. Now, take the two most alarming parts of those scams, and you have one of the more frightening scams we’ve discussed.

    In Fresno, California, an elderly woman got a pop-up on her computer claiming her device had a virus and that she needed to call Microsoft. The number included in the pop-up did not go to Microsoft, but to a scammers’ phone. The scammer told the woman that someone overseas is trying to hack into her bank account. She was instructed to go to her bank and withdraw $9,000. The scammer also told her that she couldn’t call anyone else, or their phone would get the virus. She was even told to tell the bank that she was withdrawing her money to buy a new car if the bank asked.

    After withdrawing the money, the bank manager even drove the woman home due to the heat and the fact she was carrying a large amount of cash. She had taken an Uber to get to the bank.

    After she got home, the scammer called her back and said that having a large amount of cash at home was a security risk, so they’ll send someone to her home to take her to a Bitcoin ATM to ‘protect’ her money. Someone picked up the woman and drove her to a gas station, where they instructed her on how to deposit the money into the Bitcoin kiosk. This actually sent the money to the scammers and was unrecoverable. Thankfully, the scammer or their accomplice took the woman home unharmed.

    There are few things more frightening than thinking about an elderly relative being driven by a stranger while they’re carrying a lot of money. We’re sure it also makes the scam victim feel less secure in their own home.

    As is with most tech support scams, computer companies like Microsoft or Apple have no idea whether your computer has a virus or not. If they did, that would be a huge breach of privacy. Also, any time someone you don’t know tells you not to call your family or police is virtually guaranteed to be a scammer. Lastly, you can’t protect your money at a Bitcoin ATM. They are mostly used to convert cash to Bitcoin. In these scams, victims are depositing their cash into the scammer’s Bitcoin wallet.

    Scams like this can be devastating to the elderly, as some families decide to oversee their finances. While this would alert family members to large bank transactions, many seniors feel like this robs them of their independence.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 6, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: pop-ups, , ,   

    Pop-up scam continues to plague computer users 

    Pop-up scam continues to plague computer users

    By Greg Collier

    It was just a little over a week ago that we were discussing the pop-up scam that affects computer users. This is where someone is using their computer when all of a sudden their screen is overtaken by a pop-up message that states the computer they’re using has gotten a virus. Typically, these pop-ups claim to be from a large tech company, most commonly they claim to be from Microsoft. These pop-ups also contain what appears to be a customer service number that the user is supposed to call to get their computer working again.

    These phone numbers do not go to Microsoft. Instead, they go to a group of scammers who are looking to extort money from the computer user. More often than not, the user is instructed to give remote access to the phony technician. This allows the scammers to go through the personal files stored on the computer. The scammers will then come up with some reason that the computer user has to pay them money, usually through non-recoverable means like cryptocurrency.

    The reason we’re bringing up the pop-up scam so soon is that it seems to be on a meteoric rise. Just today, we found several instances of it happening across the country where victims have lost thousands of dollars. For example, a man from Lincoln, Nebraska, paid $4000 in gift cards to scammers. In the Kansas City Metro Area, two people ended up losing $30,000 total to scammers who made their victims pay through Bitcoin kiosks. In the Green Bay-area of Wisconsin, residents there lost a total of $78,000 to scammers who gained access to their victims’ bank accounts and converted the money to Bitcoin. And in the Cleveland, Ohio, suburbs, a man lost $18,000 to scammers who also had him pay at a Bitcoin ATM. Those are all the stories about this scam that we found in one day. Who knows how many others have happened without being reported?

    If anyone you don’t personally know asks for remote access to your computer, they’re almost definitely a scammer. Also, keep in mind that companies like Microsoft hardly ever reach out to consumers in that way.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on March 1, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , pop-ups, , ,   

    Tech support scam costs victims hundreds of thousands of dollars 

    Tech support scam costs victims hundreds of thousands of dollars

    By Greg Collier

    If you’re tech-savvy, you may think to yourself, how can anyone fall for a tech support scam, especially one that involves pop-ups? In the past, pop-up windows were such a nuisance that most modern browsers come with pop-up blockers. Today, we hardly even think about pop-ups. However, if we do come across one, we largely ignore them and never go to that website ever again, as it could be providing false information or trying to inject malware into your system. Unfortunately, not everyone is that technically inclined, and those are the people that scammers are preying on. It might not be so bad if the scammers were only taking a few dollars, but these con artists are taking money from people in the six-figures.

    There’s not a lot of information on this story, but we imagine this is how it happened. A woman from Ohio saw a pop-up on her computer. It probably said that her computer had been hacked and left a phone number for her to call. The scammers posed as her bank and was told her bank account had been compromised. In order to protect the funds, she was told to give the person on the phone remote access to her computer. She was also instructed to move money from her IRA to a checking account. After it was all over, the scammers had stolen close to $300,000 from her.

    In Lincoln, Nebraska, a man fell for a similar scam. He also received a pop-up that said his bank account had been hacked and gave a number for him to call. This time, the scammer posed as a Microsoft employee. Again, the man was asked to give remote access to his computer. He was also instructed to move his money to another account, an account that scammers had access to. The man was even instructed not to discuss the matter with police. The scammers took just a little over $200,000 from him.

    Let’s just say that these two instances were committed by the same group of scammers. By just finding two people who fell for their scam, they were able to collect half a million dollars. Scammers don’t need to fool everyone, just a handful of victims.

    If you know someone who may be vulnerable to this scam, please let them know that this isn’t how their devices work. If they see a message that says they’ve been hacked, that message has definitely been sent by scammers. Also, they should never call any phone numbers attached to these pop-ups, as they’ll always connect you to a scammer. Last;y, they should never give anyone remote access to their device, unless it’s that one family member who fixes everyone’s computer.

     

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