Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Beware of Roku and other support services


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. 

                Have a safe and Happy New Year!