People are being targeted by scammers taking over their computers and then demanding money to hand them back.
The Leamington Observer reported that Trading Standards officers have had reports of “tens of thousands of users” have fallen “victim to the con”, which starts when the victim asks “for help with a printer error”. The scam is carried out with the use of fake printer helplines advertised on search engines and social media, and once connected the consumer is asked to allow “remote access to their computer”, where they then can steal sensitive information like banking details, or in other cases “demand money to hand back control” to the user.
By linking themselves with top printer and PC brands, the conmen “appear credible” but in one case they “tried to charge a victim” £700 ($869/€821), and another victim had their identity “corrupted” and passwords were stolen, for which the crooks demanded £200 ($248/€234).
Mike Andrews, Lead Co-ordinator of the National Trading Standards e-Crime team, said: “While victims expect they will receive help with their printer problems, they have in fact been lured into a trap, and find themselves at risk of losing money or important personal information and also have their computer security compromised.
“If you are seeking help for printer issues you should always use the official printer helpline details provided when you bought the product or consult the official website of the manufacturer for helpline details.”
He also said that as a crime this one was “particularly dangerous” because victims were contacting the crooks themselves without knowing it. There has been a 47 percent rise in computer service fraud since 2014, and more than 32,000 cases in 2016, and people are advised to make sure they go to the manufacturer’s website for technical support.
If a helpline asks to take over the computer to suspect a scam, this is not needed to fix a printer problem, as well as making sure that anti-virus software is “kept up-to-date” so that bogus pop-ups are prevented.