There was an article in today’s Green Guide about another computer scam.
The article specifically mentioned that an elderly resident of a retirement village received a call from one of these scammers.
The scam involves receiving a telephone call from a person who claims to be from Microsoft or Windows technical support and seems completely genuine, and being asked to allow access to the person’s computer. The computer is then deliberately damaged and the scammer seeks payment to repair it.
We are warned time and time again that legitimate institutions NEVER telephone their clients and customers and seek passwords, or pin numbers or access to computers in this fashion.
Elderly people can be particularly vulnerable in these situations, because they don’t understand and because they are usually trusting. If you do receive one of these calls, or a similar call, you should be firm and tell the person to leave their telephone number and you or your representative will get back to them in due course.