You’re clicking around the internet, maybe finding yourself tunneling down a rabbit hole, when all of a sudden your page freezes and a “call Microsoft” message takes over your screen. It could be accompanied by sirens, horns, bells and maybe a voice. Across the bottom of the screen in large print there’s a number posted.

The message is definitely NOT Microsoft. Or is it? But in a hasty decision you pick up the phone and contact the number listed. Your first instinct is to quell the sirens and get your computer back. I get it, I hear it everyday. That’s when you pick up the phone and dial the number.

Without haste the person on the other end of the phone instructs you to download a utility so they can have remote access to your computer. Usually the person tells you there’s ransomware, trojans or you were looking at material you shouldn’t have been. After connecting to your computer they convince you that it will cost money to have them fix the issue.

A few minutes after being on the phone and seeing them go through your computer you start to grow wary the person you’ve been talking to may not be Microsoft. They’re not. The person you’ve been talking to, shown your bank statement and given money to is an online scammer. There’s many of these scammers using different tactics to swindle you out of money.

Almost everyone of these I service starts with someone looking at clickbait. Clickbait starts with titles that entice us to click on them. This Thanksgiving I fixed hundreds of computers that were compromised shortly after looking up turkey recipes. Titles like: “2023’s Top Turkey Recipe,” “10 New Ways to Prepare Turkey,” and “How [your favorite celebrity] Celebrates Thanksgiving” were the last pages looked at before the scam message.

Successful scams rely on our logical brain scrambling for a few seconds. Throwing something with urgency at us scrambles our brain for just enough time for us to make irrational decisions. Letting a stranger onto your computer is irrational because there’s no reason. Showing that person your bank account information is irrational. Would you let a stranger in your house and show them where your money is kept?

Unfortunately the scam doesn’t stop with hanging up the phone or disconnecting them from the computer. After repairing literally thousands of these I’ve found the scammers install a second and sometimes third utility to allow remote access without your consent. Remember, the scammer’s goal is to get your money.

Years ago when these started to become more prevalent I noticed the same customers were coming back over and over again. Usually the first time was to have us disable the message and do a general virus scan. The second was because the person’s account was compromised. The third time was the bank telling the customer their computer needed to be reloaded – a major inconvenience.

My first attempt to figure out how the scams operated was creating a dummy computer with data including fake bank statements. Throughout the hard drive I put data with names like “bank information,” “passwords,” “ID” and anything else that would entice the crooks. I waited days and finally received the phone call that would change how we clean compromised computers.

The very first thing the scammer did was install a backdoor utility in addition to the one he had me download. Within a minute of being on the computer he also downloaded all the dummy documents I had created. In case you’re wondering each piece of bait was nothing more than a blank page with the word “scammer” on it.

Ten or so of these phone calls in I had enough evidence to go to the banks and explain what’s going on. I met with branch managers in each of the communities I had a store. I explained that bank accounts need to either be changed or frozen until the computer is thoroughly cleaned of the remote access utilities. If the two aren’t done at the same time then the scam will be a never ending cycle.

If you’re computer is compromised it’s important to call your bank before bringing your computer to be serviced. With the computer off there’s nothing more than can be done or taken. Shutting down the computer and leaving it off stops the scam immediately and unless the computer is turned on and reconnected to the network the scammer is halted in their tracks.

Swindling doesn’t just happen at carnivals. I’ve worked with law enforcement on cases where people were duped out of tens of thousands of dollars by online scams. It takes the same amount of time and energy to get $200.00 out of someone as it does $10,000.00, so you better bet the person on the other end of the phone is going to try to get you for whatever you have. Take my advice and don’t call the number on the screen.

Jeromy is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. in Greenfield and Gardner MA. You can read more of these articles at LocalComputerWiz.com