The Bladenboro Police Department is warning citizens to be aware of a computer scam. Police Chief Chris Hunt said that he is aware of at least one victim of the scam thus far.
Chief Hunt said the way the scam works, is the victim will receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be a Microsoft IT Tech or a representative from some other well known company. He said the caller will advise the victim that their home computer is interfering with their company’s servers and it may have some type of virus or something else wrong with it. Chief Hunt said the caller will then advise the victim that they can “repair” their computer remotely.
“From what I understand, these people are very convincing,” said Chief Hunt.
He said when the victim consents to the “repair” they will see a window pop up on their computer screen that reads “Supremo” and will have some numbers the caller will claim are your computer’s identification. Chief Hunt said the victim will then see the cursor begin to move around on their computer screen as the scammer has taken over their computer.
Chief Hunt said once the scammer remotely has access to the victim’s computer, they will try to convince the victim they need to “clean up” the computer. In reality, Chief Hunt said at that point the scammers have access to all of your information that has ever been placed on the computer including financial passwords, credit card information, and banking information.
“People need to pretend this person is a pick pocket and his hands on your wallet,” said Chief Hunt.
He said if you have been a victim of the scam you need to contact your bank to get a new account, contact your credit card company and have them to issue new cards, and if you have bills that are automatically drafted from your banking account, you need to alert them.
“Never, ever allow someone to have remote access to your computer. You don’t know who it is you may be talking to,” said Chief Hunt.
About Author
