Don't let the giddiness of the March equinox weaken your consumer guard against these relentless scams:
Phony TechSupport Calls
Microsoft does not make unsolicited tech-support phone calls. Only scammers do.
Once they get control of your computer, they can install malicious software that steals online banking user names and passwords, credit card information and other personal data.
Three times in late February, says Barbara O'Connor of West Simsbury, scammers made a play to take over the family's computer. The caller, listed on caller ID as "Name Not Found," first warned O'Connor's elderly father about a problem with the computer.
"He tried to push my father to turn it on and follow his directions," says O'Connor, "as he was from Microsoft and had to fix the computer. Fortunately, Dad claimed he isn't allowed to touch the computer and the guy said he would call Wednesday."
Next morning, just before 8, he did. O'Connor answered and heard a similar story about her computer being hacked. She hung up. He called again, immediately, O'Connor says, and said the hack had been traced to their computer's IP address. He also knew their home address: Scammers are increasingly using personalized information available on the Internet to add authenticity to the Microsoft-themed calls.
This scammer, however, stumbled on the street address.
"That's when I really knew he was somewhere offshore," she says, "because he took the abbreviation for 'drive' to mean that we lived on 'doctor.'"
Again, O'Connor hung up. And again, the scammer called back. This time, O'Connor's husband, Steve, answered and quickly hung up.
During one conversation with the scammer, O'Connor smartly tried to get a company name and other identification. The caller would only say he worked for Microsoft, but getting some information and passing it along to the attorney general's office (www.ct.gov/ag) or the Federal Trade Commission is about all a consumer can do.
"I have had two more calls from the same guy," says Barbara O'Connor. "The first I told him we didn't have a computer and
hung up. The second one I told him I had given the police his phone number so he better stop calling. It has been at least a week since there has been calls from that number."
Here's what a consumer should not do, says the Better Business Bureau:
>> Never give control of your computer to a caller without confirming it's from a business you have hired.
>> Never give personal information to anyone claiming to represent tech support.
Victims of the tech support scam should immediately change passwords on all critical accounts: email, online banking, online credit-card access and computer access.
"Ultimately," says the BBB's Howard Schwartz, "the key is education. The more we know about the various kinds of scams and how they work, the less chance there will be of us falling victim."
ATM Skimmers
The skimmers are back. This scam uses either a fake card-slot reader at an ATM machine, which sends a swiped-card's information to a remote computer. Sometimes, the scammers use a pinhole camera to view PIN numbers entered on a keypad. What you can do:
