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Computer Fake News Scams

1.      A phone call warning you that your computer is infected.
        They ask you to let them remotely access your computer by going to a web site and then your computer is
        actually infected by them.

2.      A screen comes up on your computer from Microsoft that says there is a problem.
        It is not Microsoft, but a scam. They want to take over your computer, mess it up and charge you to fix it.
        Unplug your computer from power and, for a laptop, remove the battery before clicking on anything. Your
        computer won’t like this, but it’s better than having your computer taken over by a virus.

3.   Never click on a link in an email, even if it’s from someone you know.
            It probably is from someone you know whose computer got infected and emailed itself to everyone in
            their address book.

4.      Ransomware
        A computer can become infected with file encryption software that encrypts your data and then extorts you for
        money to unencrypt it. If you don’t have an external, disconnected backup of your data (documents, emails,
        financial stuff, pictures, music) you will be asked to fork over hundreds of dollars to recover this data and hope
        to get it back.

5.      Spear Phishing
        An email from your financial institution (not really, but pretends to be) telling you to mail your payments to a new
        address.

6.      Phishing
        An email from your bank, ISP, phone service provider, etc. that asks you to confirm personal information.
        Clicking on the link or picture will likely cause you to turn over control of your computer to a ne’er-do-weller.

7.      Email contains a fake invoice or delivery notice.
        An email from your some company that is not really from that company (Amazon, UPS, FedEx) sends you an
        attachment to open, usually a zipped file. If you open, you are probably in trouble.

9.    My best advice is to make sure your data is backed up off site.
           I recommend backing up to the “cloud” using Carbonite.com.

    If you need any help with this or other computer issues, please feel free to call me.

Compliments of My Your Computer Guy, (425) 893-9609
www.My-Computer-Guy.com