By Don Stratton
Guest Columnist
I spend quite a bit of time on my computer, and I thought that I knew all about how to prevent myself from being scammed. Not clicking on unknown or questionable sites, not answering calls from unknown callers and other safety measures are things that I try to practice all of the time. I was sure that no scammer could get to me, but one apparently did.
Recently, I attempted to install an antivirus program on a computer and was having difficulty, so I clicked on a box that allegedly would connect me with tech support. But did it?
After a brief online chat, I was asked for my phone number and was told that someone would call me. The caller had an Asian accent but provided an Anglo-Saxon sounding name. Since probably 90% of the tech support people that I dealt with in the past have sounded the same, this was not an immediate red flag. After what seemed like an eternity on the phone, the caller said he had to elevate the case to the next level, and someone else would call.
The second call came, and it was another Asian accent with another Anglo-Saxon name. This one asked me the age of the computer and then informed me that the computer had some unintelligible-to-me, technical problem, and that they could correct it remotely for a fee. I was anxious to fix the problem, and after all, this was the tech support people for the software company, so I told them to go ahead, and they charged the amount to my credit card. They asked me to hold on the phone until the work was done. I was beginning to get somewhat skeptical.
My skepticism increased exponentially as I waited, and I eventually just hung up. Strangely enough, they called back and said they had fixed the problem and gave me a number to call if there were any more issues. The computer actually seemed to work a little better afterward, but in retrospect, that may well have just been a psychological denial that I had been scammed.
Fast forward about a month. I bought a new computer and a new printer. When I tried to wirelessly connect the printer, I couldn’t. I clicked on the tech support contact button, and suddenly — déjà vu — the whole scenario started to play out again, with alarming similarities to the first incident.
This time, Mr. Asian-accent had a name that sounded amazingly like a character in a cheap detective novel, Dan Darrow. After jacking me around for about 30 minutes, Dandy Dan wanted me to hang up while he elevated it to the next level, only this time he immediately said that the next level could fix the problem for $99. I hung up and turned off the computer. Obviously, it was the same scam, just a different party. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Much to my surprise, after I turned the computer back on, the printer was connected, although the scammer had done nothing to cause that to happen.
This time I decided to investigate. I found out that this is a common scam, but I had just not heard of it. Somehow, they are able to detect when you have a problem, and the scammers then intervene, pretending to be support technicians for the company in question. They are careful to get you to say on the phone that you are authorizing the charge to your credit card, and with that verbal authorization and the subjectivity of any opinion as to whether the computer is working better or not, it’s all but impossible to do anything about it.
I also found that while some do try to make additional charges to your card, apparently most are content to just take your dollars and go on to the next victim.
The best way to avoid this problem is that since all reputable companies in the computer field have a tech support phone number, always look up that number and call it, instead of clicking on the screen.
Don Stratton is a retired inspector for the Lima Police Department. His column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Lima News editorial board or AIM Media, owner of The Lima News.
