Scammers are demanding and devious and are trying to fool Southern Downs residents into giving them access to their personal information.
However, a Rose City woman wasn’t coned last week after she received a phone call on her home phone during the day from a woman with a foreign accent claiming to be from the Windows Service Centre.
It is yet another scam where criminals try to trick residents by telling them the victim’s computer has been infected with a virus and it has been brought to their company’s attention.
Police from the scam and Corporate Crime Group have issued a warning after a dramatic increase in reports of these scammers in Queensland.
The Warwick resident who was targeted last week said the caller told her to go to her computer immediately and gave her a list of instructions to allegedly fix the problem.
If the resident had followed the instructions, she would have inadvertently given the scammer remote access to her computer – allowing them to access her personal details.
“We have people at work who are older and not as aware about computers who might get caught out,” the concerned Rose City resident said.
“I knew it was dodgy – I wrote it all down so I could warn people.”
Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the State Crime Operations Command’s Fraud Corporate Crime Group said giving someone you don’t know remote access to your computer is basically the same as handing your credit card details over to them.
“With this access, an offender can easily search your computer for banking or personal details or quite easily load software onto your computer,” Det Supt Hay warned. “You may as well give them the key to your front door.”
Microsoft has confirmed they are not cold-calling members of the community regarding viruses, computer problems or other issues.Visit www.police.qld.gov.au.
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