A scam where callers pretend to be Microsoft employees offering to solve computer problems now accounts for 70 per cent of all fraud complaints in Canada, reports the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
The fraud artists claim they are with Microsoft and offer to help people rid their computers of malicious software.
In the process, they charge as much as $400, collect credit card information and gain access to all of the personal files and contents on their victim’s hard drive.
According to the RCMP, the scam has been operating since February 2011.
“It’s a big one. It hasn’t gone away,” said Staff Sgt. Paul Proulx, manager of the Anti-Fraud Centre [formerly Phone-Busters].
“It was in [Britain) before it came to Canada,” said Proulx. “There’s all kinds of different people out there. Some people go all for it, others don’t.”
Ottawa resident Connie Balderson said a caller phoned her home one afternoon last week. The caller sounded professional, pointing out errors on her computer and claiming they were from a virus. When she asked how they knew about the virus, the caller stated that Windows automatically reports errors to Microsoft and they were simply following up on those automated reports.
“It sounded really authentic,” she said. Microsoft has come out swinging against the fraud, setting up a website dedicated to the scam.
“We do not send unsolicited email messages or make unsolicited phone calls to request personal or financial information or fix your computer,” it said.
Vito Pilieci, Postmedia News
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012
