By the time Jim realised his elderly mum was on the phone with a scammer it was too late, her computer was already infected and money was missing from her bank account.
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An Italian migrant in her sixties, Jims mum Gina is the perfect target for scammers. Claiming to be from Telstra, they convinced Gina her notebook PC was infected with a virus and then talked her through installing remote desktop software, so they could take control to supposedly fix the problem.
Somehow they got $3000 out of mums bank account and then tried for another $6000, but thankfully the bank flagged it as a suspicious transaction and she got all her money back, Jim said.
Gina isnt alone, with Australians losing $2.4 million to remote access scams in 2017, according to the ACCCs ScamWatch. Theyre on the rise, with another $1 million lost in the first two months of 2018.
Pretending to be from the likes of Telstra, Microsoft or the NBN, scammers seem very convincing. They might know your name and address, plus theyll often back their claims with threats that your files may be lost forever if you dont act. Some scammers are out to steal money or personal information while others hope to charge you for fixing non-existent computer problems.
Closer examination revealed two remote access tools surreptitiously installed on Gina's computer: TeamViewer and ConnectWise. Theyre legitimate applications, used by real help desk staff to take remote control of computers so they can fix real problems.
Unfortunately scammers can also use these applications to rummage through your computer, if they can trick you into installing them, security expert Chris Gatford said.
Once scammers have access to your computer they can wreak havoc installing software, downloading your files and monitoring your keystrokes to steal passwords, he said.
Unfortunately antivirus software usually doesnt protect against this kind of scam, as youve been tricked into installing legitimate software.
Rather than simply uninstalling these applications, Ginas computer was reverted to a previous System Restore point rolling back time without affecting files in the My Documents folder.
If youve fallen a victim to a scam like this I recommend having your computer checked by a local computer expert, Gatford says.
Its important to keep your guard up, as scammers often come back for more theyll even claim theyve arrested the original scammers and need your credit card details to process your refund.
When you pick up the phone these days, you need to be a lot more careful when it comes to trusting people.
Source: The Senior.