Victim Location 63775
Type of a scam Online Purchase
My mom was on her computer one evening and her screen popped up "call this number your computer needs attention". She turned off her computer and turned it back on again and still had the same message. So she called the number and was scammed. She had no idea what she was doing (she is 82 years old) and they talked her into letting them access her computer. They were on the phone with her for 3 hours. They told her it would cost $299 to fix her problem. With her not understanding what was happening they took advantage of her. She was up all night thinking about what she done and the first thing the next morning she contacted her bank and they withdrew $499! Immediately I assisted her and we cancelled her card and filed a dispute. The same day I took her computer to an Computer Technician and he had to clean up her computer. It was attacked really bad. The outcome of the story is the bank did get her money back. "They" continually called her for two weeks harassing her and she would not answer the phone. They would leave messages. All stating that she "had to contact them immediately". She never did! I called the number that they called from at my work place (a different number they would not recognize) and they answered the phone with "hello", not even giving the business name. I asked a lot of questions and figured that this was not legitimate at all. I told them that I reported this to the police and also to the ScamPulse.com. I want to just warn everyone that elderly people are such easy targets and please be aware of what your parents do. They grew up in a "trusting" world years ago and things are not the same these days anymore. Thank you ScamPulse.com for your advice. It is greatly appreciated and hope sharing this story can help others. WARNING! If your computer ever "talks" to you or a number "pops up" on your screen TURN IT OFF! UNPLUG IT! and take it to a Computer Technician. They are very helpful in taking care of your problem.
Victim Location 44680
Total money lost $599.99
Type of a scam Tech Support
I was on the computer and a popup window came up supposedly from Microsoft saying my computer had been compromised by identity thieves. They provided a phone number of 855-629-1973. My wife went ahead and called the phone number, and the company said their names were Lisa Harris and Kevin Lee. They also gave me us a phone number of 844-793-5969. They said it was $599.99 unlimited and would cover all of our devices. They requested remote access into our computer, they said they can’t remove the virus without getting into the computer. my wife allowed them to get access. They said they removed the virus and added the items to go ahead and install the "protection software". After the call, I went on their website, got their address, and entered it in Google. In Google maps, what shows up is a baseball field, no office building of this business.