Beware of Phone Calls from “Windows” or “Microsoft”

Lisa Hendrickson | December 24, 2015 | 0 Comments

Lisa’s List of Things to Know

Microsoft will never call you to let you know your computer is having problems. These scammers are saying “we are from the Windows team” or “We are Windows calling” or something like that, to scare you into letting them into your computer. These “fake technicians” AKA “Computer Terrorists” as I like to call them, always usually have a foreign accent.

Be careful when you Google for help, be sure the companies are reputable and be sure you are calling the right companies. Nowadays, you can Google “Microsoft support” and get a fake company! This is VERY common.
Do not call the numbers on pop up ads when you are browsing the internet, these are fake alerts that you have a virus.

Never let anyone remote in your computer that called YOU. If you called me for an appointment, this is ok or calling a local computer repair store, but just someone calling you out of the blue is NOT OK.

If you called them and are not sure, just hang up and call ME and I will let you know if it’s a scam or real. 612-865-4475

If your guts says no or you feel weird, hang up or turn off your computer immediately. Even if you allowed them in your computer, they will say things to scare you into paying. Turning off the computer and calling a professional IT company or me immediately is what I recommend. Remember, if they are in the computer and you don’t pay, this is when this happens…

Destruction and deletion of data, Computer inoperable

Do they steal your data? From what I have heard… this is not common but a maybe, they mostly they want to get your credit card and charge you for fake services. If you did this, you can call your credit card company and they should charge back that service. Remember if they are remoted in and you don’t pay, it is TOO LATE. They will destruct data or lock you out of your computer!

Do they destroy your data? YES!! Usually this happens if you ask for your money back and they are remoted in. This just happened to one of my clients. He said he wanted his money back and i went to see what happened, all data gone.

Do they lock you out of your computer? Yes, and sometimes they put a virus on your computer if you don’t pay or say you want your money back

Please share this with your parents, friends and family. Anyone that you feel will benefit from this information.

The phone scams are still going on and getting worse and are more destructive then in years past. These fake scammers rely on the fact you and your friends and family do not know what is going on….and they feed on it. They expect you to NOT KNOW. And now you do.

If you want to discuss getting your computer on a backup plan, we can assist. Please call me at 612-865-4475 or schedule a time on my calendar to discuss options. If you are a business owner, please think….is your data backed up for sure? Many people say yes and it’s not being backed up!