Microsoft scam making rounds
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POLSON — With the onset of holidays, scam artists are shopping for victims in full force.
Local reports of a Microsoft impersonation scam have surfaced this week. The scammers say they are from the company’s technical support department, and have discovered a virus on their Windows-based computer. Often the scam pitch begins, “I’m calling for Microsoft. We’ve had a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer,” according to Snopes.com, which also states the scam has been around at least five years.
Murat Kalinyaprak of Computerman in Polson said two of his clients received calls from the scammers last week.
“One noticed (it was a scam) right away and turned it off and hung up,” Kalinyaprak said, adding that the scammers are using “rogue” software, “fake cleaning” the computer.
Some scammers simply get victims to buy overpriced and worthless anti-virus protection. Others, under the guise of selling a solution to the victim’s “computer virus problem,” go after their victim’s bank account info, then make large withdrawals once they have it. Yet others look to take remote control of the computers belonging to those they dupe, according to Snopes.
Kalinyaprak, who also received a similar call, wants people to be aware of the scam and not fall for it.
“If you can help a few people avoid trouble, that would be good,” he said.
