HOLLAND, Ohio (WTVG) – People in this community recently lost a lot of money after getting scammed on their computers. Users are told there is a problem with Microsoft Windows. That’s just the beginning of the problems.
You have to be even more skeptical than ever about what your computer says. The warnings look real, look legitimate. That’s what the crook wants.
The warning looks real: Microsoft Windows is infected and the phone number on the screen will ask you for help. It actually leads you to thieves.
“We’ve seen over $100,000 in the last month and half the people have lost money,” says John Baringer of Virtual PCs in Holland.
Baringer said they’ve worked with several people who recently lost all that money. Calling the number ultimately leads to a user giving someone access to their computer and it is not intended for repair.
“They call that number and they allow these hackers to access their computer and people store their passwords and they can access their bank accounts,” Baringer said.
What the experts see is that even legitimate web pages are affected. Now that people are holiday shopping online, this could become quite prevalent.
“These are infected advertisements on web pages. It could be that you land on a web page and these pop-ups appear because there was an ad on the page that was infected,” Baringer said.
Never give a total stranger access to your computer, especially over the phone. If so, stop talking immediately. Consider going to a professional to clean the computer if you have had this problem in the past. Maybe they’re still inside.
We’ve told you in the past that if you’re concerned about a Microsoft problem to look for a number, but now you need to be careful. The first few results on Google may not be the correct number. Look carefully at which number you select.
Latest local news | First warning weather | Crime | National | 13abc originals
Copyright 2024 WTVG. All rights reserved.