News 8 On Your Side investigates a scam we’re hearing more and more about from viewers every day: scammers hacking their way into computers. Once you lose control of your computer, your bank account could be affected. “I got an email from McAfee saying they were going to debit my bank account for $399,” Soraida Morales said. But Morales had never subscribed to McAfee computer protection and the email was not from McAfee. It came from a crook. Thinking the message was real, Morales called the number listed in the email. She spoke to someone who said they would refund her, but first she had to log on to her computer. After following a series of instructions, she lost control of her laptop. “I didn’t have access. Like, they were controlling my computer,” she said. Lauren Greenaway, fraud analyst at Belco Community Credit Union, said the scam messages telling consumers they’re being charged for something are the start of a remote access scam for a MacBook Pro and the member, the individual victim, says, “Well, I didn’t authorize that.” So the scammer says, ” I need to access your computer remotely so we can reimburse you,” she said. Greenaway said customers lost thousands of dollars. Morales is not a Belco customer, but she is a victim who says she lost $3000. She said she was going to use this money for her wedding. While the scammer had remote access to her computer, they accessed her bank account and claimed that ‘they were going to pay him back $400. Then they claimed they accidentally added an extra zero . “They just said they deposited $4,000 into my account,” she said. But it was no accident. This extra zero is part of the scam. They asked Morales to send the extra money back and asked him to buy gift cards worth thousands of dollars. She bought the cards and gave the scammers the numbers on the back, and the money was gone. Protect yourself Protecting yourself from this scam is as simple as that – never allow anyone remote access to your computer. at your financial institution,” Greenaway said. The scam is relatively new 8 On Your Side consumer investigator Brian Roche will walk you through this scam. He replied to one of these messages and recorded his interaction with the scammer as he tried to convince Brian to allow remote access to his computer. You can hear this conversation. so that you can recognize the scam.
News 8 On Your Side investigates a scam we’re hearing more and more about from viewers every day: scammers hacking their way into computers.
Once you lose control of your computer, your bank account could be affected.
“I got an email from McAfee saying they were going to debit my bank account for $399,” Soraida Morales said.
But Morales had never signed up for McAfee computer protection and the email was not from McAfee. It’s from a scammer.
Thinking the message was real, Morales called the number listed in the email. She spoke to someone who said they would refund her, but first she had to log on to her computer.
After following a series of instructions, she lost control of her laptop.
“I didn’t have access. For example, they controlled my computer,” she said.
Lauren Greenaway, fraud analyst at Belco Community Credit Union, said fraudulent messages telling consumers they’re being charged for something are the start of a dial-up scam.
“They’ll say there was a charge for a MacBook Pro and the member, the individual victim, says, ‘Well, I didn’t authorize that. So the scammer says, “I need to access your computer remotely so we can refund you,” she said.
Greenaway said customers lost thousands of dollars.
Morales is not a Belco customer, but is a victim who said she lost $3,000. She said she was going to use this money for her wedding.
While the scammer had remote access to his computer, they accessed his bank account and claimed they were going to refund him $400. Then they claimed they added an extra zero by accident.
“They just said they deposited $4,000 into my account,” she said.
But it was no coincidence. This extra zero is part of the scam.
They asked Morales to send the extra money back and asked him to buy gift cards worth thousands of dollars.
She bought the cards and gave the scammers the numbers on the back, and the money was gone.
Protect yourself
Protecting yourself from this scam is as simple as that – never let anyone remotely access your computer.
“If someone tells you about a compromised bank account, an unauthorized debit, and they want to log into your computer remotely, you go to your financial institution,” Greenaway said.
The scam is relatively new
This remote access scam is relatively new and has emerged during the pandemic.
We’ve all become a little more comfortable sharing access to our computers during video conferences and online meetings.
The scammers have understood this and have developed this con computer.
Coming
Next week, 8 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Brian Roche will explain this scam to you.
He replied to one of these messages and recorded his interaction with the scammer as he tried to convince Brian to allow remote access to his computer.
You can hear this conversation in order to recognize the scam.
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