Community service announcement

I am interrupting normal Three Key Points programming today to bring you a community service announcement.

I received an early morning text from my Mum today. Early morning text messages can be great (e.g. Baby X was born at 3am....) but they can also be not so great. This one was not so great. Mum was letting me know that she had fallen victim to a telemarketing remote access scam.

My mum is a very smart, very switched on lady. She would not claim to be an IT genius and she is not going  to be a CTO any time soon, but she knows her way around a computer. She is a one-woman promotion machine for this blog (thanks Mum), we are friends on Facebook and she loves to do a little online shopping now and again. She is no dummy.

Mum and I agreed that more people need to know about this scam so here is the story of what happened:

1. Mum received a phone call from a company claiming that they were aware of problems with the virus software on her computer. They sounded legitimate and professional. They emphasised the urgency of resolving this problem. Apparently, they will often claim to be calling from Windows, Microsoft, Telstra or BigPond.

2. They got her to go to their website and directed her to some links that made her believe there were serious problems with the computer.

3. They gained remote access to my Mum's computer and also obtained her credit card details to charge her for their "services".

4. They made several follow-up phone calls over the course of the evening.

5. Mum became suspicious. She googled. She realised she had been scammed.

This scam appears to have been going strong since about 2009 and it seems that they have been working their script to prey on common computer-related fears.

Once we realised the scam had happened, this is what we did:

1. Alerted the bank and cancelled the credit card.

2. Sought consultation from the people we know who fall into the category of "IT genius".

3. Made an appointment with Geeks2U - mum will be getting a home visit tomorrow to have her PC fully checked.

4. Called the police.

5. Posted on the Whirlpool forum for advice and moral support. I posted on this thread - http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1200200&p=61 - it was started back in 2009 and is still being updated regularly.

6. Called Scamwatch - a division of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. They have lots of info on this scam.

My call to Scamwatch revealed the following:

1. Scamwatch receive thousands of calls per week and the vast majority are on this scam.

2. The scammers will probably try to call my mum again.

3. Scamwatch have never received reports of identity theft stemming from this scam... their main focus seems to be to get the credit card details and make the single charge.

This scam makes me so mad, but I did read some funny responses that some IT savvy people have given when the scammers have called them. This is one of my favourites:

Responded to the question, "I understand your computer is running slowly, is that right?" with "No, actually my computer is, very literally, the fastest computer in the entire world." They hung up.

And this is another good one:

1. Pretend you know nothing whatsoever about computers. "The window? You mean the square box thing?"

2. Fake shock and concern that there is something wrong with your computer, thank them for taking the trouble to help you fix it.

3. Ask how much it is going to cost and whether they accept credit cards. Pretend to be really stupid.

4. Ask them to hold while you find your credit card.

5. Check the phone periodically. If you need to use it tell them actually you realised you are running Linux and none of what they said was making any sense to you because you were in terminal mode, but that the windows and everything sounded very nice while you were waiting for your compile to finish.

My three key points:

1. The people who are most likely to be victims of this scam won't be reading blogs or forums to learn about it. Please tell the story of what happened to my mum to all of your friends and family who you think could be at risk (even if you think it is a low risk, just tell them about it anyway).

2. You can sign up for e-mail alerts from Scamwatch. When a scam is on their radar and has been added to their website, you can be alerted. Even if you'd be unlikely to fall for a scam, it could be worth signing up so that you can spread the word and protect the people. I have signed up and it was easy. Next time you see me, I'll probably warn you about a scam so be prepared for that.

3. Stranger Danger! Don't take lollies from strangers. Don't let strangers into your computer.

If you'd like to learn more about this scam, check out these resources:

• Those 'PC virus' phone call scams: the unanswered questions
• 'Microsoft support centre' scam continues, and takes turn for worse
• Indian Microsoft Telemarketing Scam
• The unstoppable tech support scam
• Support on click - reading the fine print
• Update on Support on Click