ST ALBERT – St. Albert RCMP are warning the public that a well-known computer scam has surfaced in the area. This scam has been seen in Ontario and Manitoba in the spring of 2011 and Regina in the fall of 2011.
The scam usually starts with a telephone call from a person identifying themselves as working for Microsoft.
The caller states that Microsoft has noticed a large number of error messages coming from your computer and they will fix the problem if you allow the caller to have remote access to your computer. The caller will quote a professional looking website to verify their claims and will even give an address and phone number if asked.
The scam artist will offer to sell you anti virus software that can fix your computer and will ask for your credit card number to pay for the software. The problem is…the caller does not work for Microsoft. The caller is a scam artist!
The scam artist now would have access to your credit card information and can run up fraudulent charges and they also can access sensitive information from your computer while they have remote access to it.
If you receive this type of call, hang up.
Do not give the caller any information and never give your credit card number or other personal information to companies unless you initiated the call to them.
If you think you may have been the victim of this type of scam, have a professional company check your computer for any viruses or spyware that may have been installed into your computer.
For more information on this and other scams, visit the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre.ca Scams can also be reported to the Canadain Anti-fraud centre through their website. If you have lost money to this type of scam, call the St. Albert RCMP at 780 458 7700 or your local police agency to report it.