Today's
warning is being posted in a state of disbelief. This is not something we would
have expected, but feel the need to warn everyone about the mind boggling
happenings in the computer world.
We got a
call this morning from one of our clients who has been a client for many
years. We’ve maintained their computers for them far longer than we can
remember, and he even has regular maintenance done, so we know what sort of
condition his computer is in.
The
situation was that our client received a new Roku device for streaming video
content on the TV. When he tried to hook it up he had to go on the
internet, register the device and setup an account. Once this was done, he had trouble
the device to recognize properly. Roku had a chat feature available on
their website, so he opened up a chat and explained the trouble he was having.
The nice lady there said it sounded like he had a firewall problem and that if
he wanted she could connect him with their support people who would remote in
and help him. He was delighted to have some service and agreed. The
lady who he was connected with was not speaking English as a natural first
language, which was the first thing that put warning bells off in his head.
Then she remoted in and started telling him that someone had attempted to hack
into his computer more than once and started showing him all sorts of reports
and activity monitors and told him his IP address was being hacked, etc. She
was using a common scare tactic. The punch line was that for a “small fee” she
could help him protect against all of this stuff and that she could help him
out.
He
disconnected the computer from the internet, told her he was going to consult
with his computer guy and she is supposed to call him back today. He had
us remote in today and check the system over, and there was no sign that she
had left anything malicious behind. What she did do was scared him into
thinking that he might have a problem. We assured him was not the case.
We are
shocked that such a support scam would come through what is considered a
reputable company (Roku). We’ve also heard of people in the past who have
contacted HP about printer issues and experienced the very same thing.
It’s obvious that a lot of these technology companies are contracting their
support services out with less than desirable companies with terrible
motives. We are sending this out as a caution to everyone to please be
wary when letting someone into your computer. One of the most prominent
scams right now is when someone calls claiming to be with Microsoft and telling
you that your computer is sending errors to them. If you let them in, they can lock you out of
your computer and hold it for ransom.
Please be
wary. If in doubt, email or call with as much information as you can.
