OT: Help with internet scam/identity theft

[merlinmurph]

Not only pertinent to the subject, but also bike related.

Last year, I was on a ride locally on a nice, country road that gets very little traffic. There's a woman at the end of her driveway, standing outside her car talking on the phone, with all sorts of stuff littered on the road. I stopped, asked if she needed help, and she said her phone got hacked. I start picking stuff up off the road while she was on the phone, and about a minute later, I hear her say "I have to go tot Wal-Mart and get some gift cards". I stopped, yelled at her to stop talking, grabbed her phone and hung up.

I tried to explain the scam to her, but her eyes told me she had no idea what I was talking about. I tried again, not sure if I got thru. She was going to get scammed for something like $800. Phew. She wasn't elderly, either, maybe 40's.

Be careful out there.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Not only pertinent to the subject, but also bike related.

Last year, I was on a ride locally on a nice, country road that gets very little traffic. There's a woman at the end of her driveway, standing outside her car talking on the phone, with all sorts of stuff littered on the road. I stopped, asked if she needed help, and she said her phone got hacked. I start picking stuff up off the road while she was on the phone, and about a minute later, I hear her say "I have to go tot Wal-Mart and get some gift cards". I stopped, yelled at her to stop talking, grabbed her phone and hung up.

I tried to explain the scam to her, but her eyes told me she had no idea what I was talking about. I tried again, not sure if I got thru. She was going to get scammed for something like $800. Phew. She wasn't elderly, either, maybe 40's.

Be careful out there.

Wow, I hope she wizened up.

[oliver1850]

Thanks for the replies. A full scan with Defender turned up no threats. Is it safe to use the computer for internet access? It seems to be operating normally offline.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by oliver1850

Thanks for the replies. A full scan with Defender turned up no threats. Is it safe to use the computer for internet access? It seems to be operating normally offline.

I would be comfortable with this. It doesn't sound like they were trying to compromise your actual computer based on your brief description of the incident. Sounds purely financial. Just to be extra safe, I'd get the machine online, download Malware Bytes, take it offline and let that run a scan too.

Or - if you have a USB stick - download a copy of Malware Bytes on another computer, put the .exe on the USB and then run Malware Bytes on the computer you're concerned about while its still offline. Better to be safe than sorry.

[trener1]

Also beware of phone scams. I consider myself pretty aware of all of the scams.. and yet...
Today I got a call, there was no human on the line just a computer voice, it said that it was calling from Hospital X (a hospital I had actually been to last August, so I thought it was legit) and then it said if this is xxx (my name) press 1, I thought nothing of it since lots of times legit company's do that, then it said please type in your date of birth... I couldn't hang up fast enough.
Typed the phone number into google and obviously it came up as a scam number.
I am pretty sure that I am safe, since all they got was my name and phone number.

[Bruce K]

I got a call yesterday from”Agent David” at “The Federal Docial Security Agency” (local number not identified as spam).

I kept asking questions until he fumbled and lost his place in his script (you could actually hear him shuffling papers and other voices in the background). He hung up.

But I know I was lucky too.

Most of them just get slicker.

BK

[OtayBW]

I actually got skunked myself recently when I tried to buy a couple of shirts from an ad on FB by Orvis, a reputable outdoor supplier, and one that I have ordered from before. It was bogus and that became apparent very quickly. Fortunately, my CC company removed the charges and I've seen no trace of malware, etc. I did invest in an identify protection service for 1 year, and so far, no problem. I generally hate FB, but occasionally browse over there for a few minutes at a time. Fool me once - we don't get fooled again.....