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News 8 On Your Side is investigating a scam we’re hearing about from more viewers each day: scammers conning their way into computers.Once you lose control of your computer, your bank account could get hit. “I got an email from McAfee saying that they were going to charge my bank account $399,” Soraida Morales said.But Morales had never signed up for McAfee computer protection, and the email didn’t come from McAfee. It came from a scammer.Thinking the message was real, Morales called the number in the email. She spoke to someone who said they would refund her money, but first, she had to log into her computer.After following a series of instructions, she lost control of her laptop.”I had no access. Like, they were in control of my computer,” she said.Lauren Greenaway, a fraud analyst with Belco Community Credit Union, said scam messages telling consumers that they’re being billed for something are the beginning of a remote access scam.”They’ll say there’s been 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 remote into your computer so we can get that refunded for you,’” she said.Greenaway said customers have lost thousands of dollars.Morales is not a Belco customer, but she is a victim who said she lost $3,000. She said she was going to use that money for her wedding.While the scammer had remote access to her computer, they accessed her bank account and claimed they were going to refund her $400. Then they claimed they added an extra zero by accident.”They just said that they deposited $4,000 into my account,” she said.But it was no accident. That extra zero is part of the scam. They demanded Morales send the extra money back, and they instructed her 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 yourselfProtecting yourself from this scam is as simple as this – never let anyone have remote access to your computer.”If you have someone telling you about a compromised bank account, an unauthorized charge, and they want to remote into your computer, you go to your financial institution,” Greenaway said. Scam is relatively newThis remote access scam is relatively new, coming into existence during the pandemic.We all became a little more comfortable sharing access to our computers during video conferences and online meetings.Scammers realized that and developed this computer con.Coming upNext week, 8 On Your Side consumer investigator Brian Roche is going to walk you through this scam.He responded to one of these messages and recorded his interaction with the scammer as he tried to talk Brian into allowing remote access to his computer.You can hear that conversation so you can recognize the scam.
News 8 On Your Side is investigating a scam we’re hearing about from more viewers each day: scammers conning their way into computers.
Once you lose control of your computer, your bank account could get hit.
“I got an email from McAfee saying that they were going to charge my bank account $399,” Soraida Morales said.
But Morales had never signed up for McAfee computer protection, and the email didn’t come from McAfee. It came from a scammer.
Thinking the message was real, Morales called the number in the email. She spoke to someone who said they would refund her money, but first, she had to log into her computer.
After following a series of instructions, she lost control of her laptop.
“I had no access. Like, they were in control of my computer,” she said.
Lauren Greenaway, a fraud analyst with Belco Community Credit Union, said scam messages telling consumers that they’re being billed for something are the beginning of a remote access scam.
“They’ll say there’s been 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 remote into your computer so we can get that refunded for you,’” she said.
Greenaway said customers have lost thousands of dollars.
Morales is not a Belco customer, but she is a victim who said she lost $3,000. She said she was going to use that money for her wedding.
While the scammer had remote access to her computer, they accessed her bank account and claimed they were going to refund her $400. Then they claimed they added an extra zero by accident.
“They just said that they deposited $4,000 into my account,” she said.
But it was no accident. That extra zero is part of the scam.
They demanded Morales send the extra money back, and they instructed her 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 this – never let anyone have remote access to your computer.
“If you have someone telling you about a compromised bank account, an unauthorized charge, and they want to remote into your computer, you go to your financial institution,” Greenaway said.
Scam is relatively new
This remote access scam is relatively new, coming into existence during the pandemic.
We all became a little more comfortable sharing access to our computers during video conferences and online meetings.
Scammers realized that and developed this computer con.
Coming up
Next week, 8 On Your Side consumer investigator Brian Roche is going to walk you through this scam.
He responded to one of these messages and recorded his interaction with the scammer as he tried to talk Brian into allowing remote access to his computer.
You can hear that conversation so you can recognize the scam.
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