Friday, February 14, 2014

Residents Report Bogus Calls from Microsoft

By: Ben Haut, WKVI
Published: February 14th, 2014

The latest round of telephone scams to hit the area involves a caller claiming to be from a reputable company. Several residents have gotten calls from someone claiming to be a Microsoft representative and asking for information. The caller is extremely persistent and claims the person’s computer is on the verge of crashing and can only be fixed if they provide information for him to access it remotely. Microsoft does not initiate such calls, and allowing someone this type of access to your computer can make you vulnerable to identity theft as they can steal passwords and other secure data. Do not give passwords, Social Security or bank account numbers or any other information to a caller you do not know. The best thing to do is to hang up on such callers, look up a number for the company they claim to represent and contact their customer service department yourself to make sure there is not any sort of problem that requires your attention.

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