Caller will pose as your utility company
This isn’t really computer related, but because so many of
these are, and this one actually happened to us here at the shop, I told the
Grainger Sherrif’s Dispatcher that I would send a notice out to all of my
customers making them aware.
We got a call close to closing time from someone claiming to be a technician
with Appalachian Electric. Now this could easily happen from any Electric
Company. The caller id was ‘spoofed’ and the number showed up with the
correct number for App Electric, which only made it more convincing. He
claimed he had a disconnect notice and was going to be out in 15 minutes to
pull our electric meter. He gave an ‘after hours number’ to call and said
he would wait 15 mins to receive a notice from the afterhours supervisor to
prevent him from disconnecting us. When the number was called they
claimed they had sent out a business assessment form and that since we had
failed to respond a deposit was assessed in the amount of $900+, and that he
could authorize a temporary suspension of the disconnect if we went to RiteAid
pharmacy about a mile away and send half of it via a money pak. He
claimed the office was closed and that there was nothing else he could do, he
either had to have confirmation we were going to send the money pak or the
technician would be out to pull the meter. I hung up on the phone and
called Appalachian Electric who informed me it was a scam and we called the
Grainger County Sherriff. The caller was very convincing and hitting
loads of businesses in this area, I personally heard of one gentleman who paid
it because he thought they were going to shut the electric off to his tenants
in his apartment building. Beware of anything no matter how
legitimate it seems.
Caller claims to be with Microsoft or Windows
Don't let anyone into your computer. There are calls being made from those who say they are from Microsoft or Windows (brands you know and trust). They will tell you that you have errors on your computer (all computers do) and that they need to get into clear them. If you let them in, they will lock you out of your computer unless you pay them sums of $199 or more. Either avoid these calls or hang up. It is not legitimate.
