Don’t fall for the Microsoft Windows Phone Scam!
The Microsoft Windows phone scam is one that has been going on for quite a while. They called me today and I got to have some fun at their expense.
The way it works is that they call and tell you that they are getting errors on your computer and that they can fix it. If you question them, they will try to convince you by asking you to open a command prompt and have you type ‘assoc’ in the window and will read you a long number at the bottom of the screen. The number, called the CLSID, is not your serial number and isnt unique to your computer! I mentioned to the caller that I have two computers and asked which one was having problems, he said ‘the old one.’ I had to laugh at that. At this point, I told him I knew it was a scam and he kept insisting that it wasn’t and that my credit cards and personal info were at ‘grave’ risk. After a few minutes of telling him what he was going to do if I granted him access, he stopped arguing, called me a colorful name and hung up.
After they ‘convince’ you that it is actually your computer, they will ask you to go to a remote access website, they sent me to www.remote123.com, and grant them access to your computer. Once they are in, they will try to sell you repair services to ‘fix’ the problem. If you don’t agree to it, this is when they get nasty. They then hijack your computer and tell you that they want a ransom to give you your computer back. If they get this far, your computer is toast and will probably require a rebuild.
Don’t fall for the Microsoft Windows phone scam! If you are having problems, give us a call and we can quickly remote in and assess whether or not anything needs to be addressed……..and we won’t hold your PC for ransom!
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Founded in 2010, Prairie Star Technology is an independent IT service and support firm located in Overland Park, KS. We offer on-site computer repair and virus removal throughout the greater Kansas City area, including Overland Park, Shawnee, Olathe, Kansas City, Lenexa, Prairie Village, and Leawood and remote help desk support to clients nationally. We specialize in improving computer performance, reliability and security for residential and small business customers. We are focused on providing fast, professional and CompTIA certified computer support to clients nationwide. Our unique managed service program, Complete Computer Care, combines remote monitoring, preventative maintenance and Internet security all in one bundled offering starting at $15.99 a month.
If you would like to find out more about how we can improve your computers security to better protect your personal identity, documents, pictures and other data and make your computer faster and more fun to use, call us at 913/730-6262 or on our Contact Us page. If you are going to take on the risks of the Internet, you owe it to your data to have the best Internet security possible. And remember, dont fall for the Microsoft Windows Phone Scam!
