A Johnston County woman has fallen victim to a widespread internet technical support scam. She lost $6,000 and authorities say there is little they can do to recover the money.
In March, the 68 year-old victim received a telephone call from a person claiming they were with Microsoft technical support. They claimed Microsoft was going out of business in the United States and they wanted to refund $300 to her for computer security they could no longer offer. But first they needed access to her computer.
The victim allowed the caller to gain remote access to her home computer on the pretense they would deposit money into her online banking account. The victim said the caller claimed they had deposited an extra $3,200 in her bank account by mistake and she needed to obtain Wal-Mart gift cards to repay the money.
The victim went to Wal-Mart locations in Clayton and Knightdale and purchased 120 $50 gift cards and gave the account information off the back of each gift card to the caller. Later she learned no money had been deposited into her bank account and she had been scammed out of $6,000.
The victim waited several weeks before reporting the scam.
Tips To Avoid Being Scammed
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says fake tech support scams allowing criminals access to your computer is widespread. Millions of dollars have been lost by people after they were convinced their computer was compromised or they needed to pay for a fix. There are several variations of the scam.
According to the FTC the scammers use misleading and high pressure tactics to frighten consumers. Often times they can create a pop-up alert to appear legitimate to notify the user to call a toll-free number. When you call the number you are actually speaking with a fake tech support worker.
Never give control of your computer to a third party who calls you at random. Don’t rely on caller ID to authenticate a call. Find technical support services in your local area. Scammers can place online ads to convince you they are a legitimate company. And never provide your credit card information to someone who calls and claims to be from tech support. If they request you make a payment or send money hang up the phone.
