Auburn police warn of telephone scam regarding computer repairs
Published 11:28 am Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The Auburn Police Department is warning citizens of a telephone scam in which the caller claims to be from Microsoft or a computer repair company and will try to make the call recipient believe they have a computer problem or virus that needs to be fixed.
The caller may ask to send a link to a website that will be fraudulent and put your computer at risk or ask for credit card information to pay for a computer protection plan. It is known that one Auburn resident has fallen for the scam and lost approximately $500.
The call may appear to be coming from an Auburn number or a local area code on caller ID, but the caller is possibly using a spoofed phone number, a disposable mobile phone or stolen cellular numbers.
The Auburn Police Department encourages citizens to treat any unsolicited phone call with skepticism and to never give any personal information, such as credit card numbers, to anyone over the phone. If you receive a phone call such as this, hang up immediately or delete the message if you receive one.
In another example, some company employees are receiving phone calls in which they are addressed by name (due to the caller having access to the company phone directory) and fooled into believing the call is legitimate and may inadvertently put their company’s computer network at risk by falling for the scam.
Auburn Police also suggest that if multiple phone calls are made to your home or business to contact the phone company about having the number blocked.
This particular scam has been reported in numerous countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and England as well as the United States. According to Microsoft’s website, the company never makes unsolicited calls or requests credit card information over the phone. For more on online safety, visit the Microsoft Safety and Security Center.
For more information on increasing your online safety and security, contact the customer service department of your Internet service provider.
