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Internet Scam Awareness

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov) continues to receive complaints about calls from individuals with strong accents and common names claiming to be with "tech support" from a well known software company.

These callers claim there is a virus on the victim's computer that is causing it to send error messages. In order to get access to the victim's computer, the caller states that only they can resolve the issue. They convince the victim to allow them to scan the computer’s operating system remotely. Victims watch the caller examine their files and "find" the virus. The perpetrators indicate that they can remove the virus - for a fee - and ask the victim for their credit card details. Victims who grant remote access subsequently experience computer difficulties from malware installed on their system. Victims who give out their credit card information become victims of fraud and theft.

This crime, commonly known as "social engineering" has been on the rise in neighboring states. Residents, business owners and City employees should be alert for this type of scam. Never give anyone access to your computer that you didn’t call for assistance.

Also, if you do not personally look up and call the technical support number for a hardware or software company (Gateway, Dell, Symantec, McAfee, etc.) do not call any number that pops up on your PC’s screen. 

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