May 11, 2012 – We have heard of several reports of people in the area being called by “technicians” working for several companies. These “technicians” have generally been foreign with very heavy accents. The scammers are telling people that their computers are infected with viruses. They ask if your computer is running slow as “proof” that what they are saying is true. Since almost all computers run slow at times, people generally agree that something bad is happening. The scammers then direct the target to a web site which allows the technician to take over the computer. They “find” infections and try to sell $250 or so worth of software and services to clean it up. We are not sure if these scammers are also placing other software such as keyloggers on the computers or stealing data, but we are recommending anyone who has worked with one of these scams to format and reload their computers as a precaution.
The best course of action if you suspect your computer may be infected is to take it to someone you trust like the folks at Network Solutions, Inc. 🙂