Almost a Victim

During my time on Vocal. I’ve published several computer scam stories, Click on Accept, and Gone Phishing to name a couple, but I’ve never experienced what it felt like firsthand. That is no longer true. Today has been a very eventful day, to say the least. Like with most stories, the best place to start is at the beginning.

My wife and I have put our house on the market and are moving from sunny and often oppressively humid Florida to a state that’s a little more comfortable. Yes, I’ll miss the 60/70-degree winters, but not the 95-degree and 90 percent humidity summers. I started the day by doing some house hunting online. As much as I’d like to see this house sell fast, it’s equally important to have somewhere to move into. As I’ve done in the past, I scrolled through realtor and builders’ sights in search of our next dream home. That’s when it happened!

One builder’s website caught my attention. Their development was in the right spot and, more importantly, their prices weren’t over the top. I clicked on it! Immediately, the house pictures disappeared into the background. My screen faded to black, with a small white code running across the top. A second smaller screen appeared over the black one, informing me that Windows Defender had detected malicious malware. It instructed me not to shut off my computer and call the number on the screen immediately.

This has rarely happened to me in the past and when it has, I normally ignored the instructions and shut the box down; when I restarted it, all was back to normal. Why I didn’t do that this time is a question I’m still asking myself. A man with a strong Indian accent answered my call on the second ring. He claimed to be from Microsoft’s fraud division and would be happy to free my computer from the clutches of the evil hackers, but first, he would need some information.

For identification purposes, I had to give him my birthday and the last four of my social security number. He told me that all my devices were now corrupted and the hackers could listen in on my phone calls so he would call me back on a secure line.

Red flag #1

When he called, the ID showed the call originated from Lynchburg, VA. I asked him where he was located and he replied Redmond, WA. I questioned the location discrepancy, and he brushed it off, saying that was how Microsoft had their communication system set up.

A short time later, he transferred me to someone in “senior management” who would handle my case. This gentleman also spoke with a strong Indian accent. Aren’t there any Americans working at Microsoft?

The manager assured me he would resolve all of this starting with filing a complaint with the FCC. He put me on hold for a short time and when he returned, gave me a complaint file number I could use for future reference. The next phase in the process was to get my money back.

Red flag #2

More information popped up on my screen, showing dates and times when breaches occurred. The last incursion happened at 4:31 a.m., a transfer of $3,000 to a Russian site called Porn Hub for child porn. I became enraged that not only had they stolen my money, but it was being used for such a slimy purpose.

The time this transfer had been made was when all my devices were off. He had no convincing explanation of how this could have happened. This bogus manager explained that because the transfer was fiscally allowed by pressing the number 1 instead of 2 to decline, it couldn’t simply be reversed. The only way to recover my money would be to make another $3,000 purchase and then claim I had double paid and needed to cancel both payments and start over again.

Skull and Crossbones.

I asked how it would be possible to make a duplicate purchase of an item I didn’t buy. He assured me it wasn’t a problem and asked if there was a CVS, Target, or Walmart in the area. When I told him there was, he said, “Put on your shoes and drive to Walmart.” At that point, I told him what he could do with his gift card scam and hung up. My phone rang immediately, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I shut down my computer, contacted my banks and credit card companies, and changed all my passwords.

Although it’s embarrassing to admit to being suckered the way I was, if it helps anyone who reads this avoid what I went through, then it’s worth the humiliation.