By Monique Valadez

CHINO-Last week I was contacted on my cell phone by an “unavailable” number. I hesitated answering it but thought perhaps it was an important call about my son. So I answered it.  Little did I know that those brief three minutes taught me a valuable lesson about phone and cyber scammers.

I noticed a few red flags such as using generic terms when describing information such as “your computer”. What if I didn’t even have a computer? He also didn’t claim any company.

So I decided to play along. “We are getting emails from your computer that you have a virus,” he pressed on.

I told him that I was at work and I did not have access to my laptop. This response immediately changed his tone with me. He asked when I would be able to get in front of my laptop. “Who does this guy think he is, ‘SlickRick,” I thought.

After a couple attempts to figure out a good time to call me back, the man thanked me for my time and hung up the phone. These scammers are clever and easily convince anyone into thinking there is an obvious issue with their computer.

Scams come in all shapes and sizes. According to Microsoft, scammers don’t just make phone calls they also send fraudulent email messages and set up fake websites. They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

• Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
• Convince you to visit legitimate websites (like http://www.ammyy.com) to download software that will allow them to take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
• Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
• Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Protect yourself by knowing the facts. Don’t fall victim to ‘Slick Rick’ and his bandits. If it sounds suspicious, hang up. If it looks suspicious don’t open it. When in doubt, take it to an expert.