Saskatchewan RCMP and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) are asking local residents to be aware of a computer scam that is happening in communities across the province, including in Yorkton.
The BBB says it continues to receive frequent calls from consumers who have mistakenly complied with callers alleging to represent Microsoft, Apple, Dell and most recently Bomgar Corporation a legitimate software developer headquarter in California, and provided online third party access to their home computers. The scam has not changed since they first started receiving calls in early July.
The caller identifies himself as representing a legitimate company in the computer industry indicating that the consumer has a serious security or virus issues on their home computer. As this solicitation represents a very "convenient" service offered by a "knowledgeable" and professional representative of a "brand name" firm, it is very appealing to the unaware consumer who may be very concerned about the issue, so agrees to have it fixed over the phone and online.
Unfortunately far too many consumers calling the BBB have complied with the telephone caller's sales pitch and instructions, and have granted access to their home computer over the internet to unknown remote third parties. As the process takes place the consumer is also asked to provide credit card information to pay for the service typically $119, $149, and more recently in excess of $200. In some cases the computer performance is actually slowed and reduced, and there is a risk that hard drives or specific operating systems may fail.
The BBB is warning the Saskatchewan public that this is a scam that has been active since March 2010 in Canada, and longer than that in Europe and Australia. Granting third party access to your computer over the internet is not recommended under any circumstances.
The intent is malicious and may be as extreme as perpetrating identity theft reaching far beyond the loss of the funds paid by credit card for a service to fix a problem that may not even exist.
BBB Tips:
Never respond to a telephone solicitation that offers to provide computer on-line services from any company regardless of the name provided.
Keep your anti-virus software up to date, and run virus scans on a regular basis.
Do not give out credit card or personal information over the telephone in response to a third party call offering on-line services.
If you are concerned about computer performance issues, virus infections, spy-ware, or mal-ware on your home computer then identify reputable service providers in your community, look for the BBB accreditation, and call to obtain pricing information from multiple source.
