Posted on 08/24/2017 4:32:18 AM PDT by Dad was my hero
Is this a scam? Two previous times over the last couple months I was called by someone (Indian accent) telling me that I was due a refund from a transaction I had with their company last year. I vaguely recalled the transaction and they knew the date and exact amount. I just needed to access my computer and checking account so they could give me the money. (red flags all over the place so...) I told them to just send me a check and we'll call it even then hung up.
Well yesterday another call, this time they had enough details to convince me they must have been legitimate, they had the last four digits of the credit card number I used at the time. So we began playing a verbal game that lasted almost two hours.
First they said for me to go to a site and download "teamviewer.dmg" and run it. So I did (starting to have that slight fishy smell). Then they gave me an access code. Now they had access to my iMac. They kept telling me to access my checking account and I'll soon see the money reappear in it. I had some difficulty telling the guy that the credit card I used was a club visa card with no checking account attached. He transfers me to the next person. I again explain that the card has no checking account attached to it. He insists that I'm going to see the money appear in my checking account but I need to access my account. So I told him I was accessing it, just not on the computer they were on, I work from home and my pc (two feet away from my iMac) is accessing my checking account, no money. I need to access it from my computer that they are shadowing! (fishy smell is now getting stronger but I'm still hooked.)
So I finally relent and in the mean time the guy tells me that they are not in the same country so exchange rates will apply, did I understand that? Yes. NOW, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TOUCH YOUR COMPUTER KEYBOARD OR MOUSE WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING! Got it. Now, because of banking regulations in our country we cannot transfer amounts less than $10,000 so you will soon see that amount show up in your account. Then you need to transfer back to us $9,800 and keep the remaining amount. Well, alarm bells are going off and so I try to move the mouse to the log off section of my account and I am not able to control it, all the while they are shouting at me not to do that. So I reach around the back and cold shut down the computer which disconnects their call from me because my home is using Magic Jack. Another guy was also on my cell phone. BTW, every call that came to me came through as unknown or anonymous.
I ran a malware scan and had Apple support verify that they left nothing on my iMac.
There is no 10K transfer requirement.
Why I’m the WORLD would you let some random jerk on the phone control your computer via TeamVieweer for a financial transaction!? I’m speechless.
NEVER NEVER NEVER give anyone access to your computer with TeamViewer unless it is a reliable source known to you!
You have no idea what they got off your computer!
you were totally scammed!
The Indian or Pakistani accent is all I need to hear...within one second automatic hang-up.
Lucky you. In my experience, no 'wireless' system (cell phones and AT&T wireless home phone etc.) can support true Caller ID, and then there is 'spoofing.' Of course you can program known numbers into your receiver but that brings us back to spoofing.
You need to IMMEDIATELY from another computer; change every password you have.
Its likely too late however.
Any information you have is likely compromised already.
Do not use your computer again until a professional has wiped the hard drive.
Okay, here are those instructions:
If you don’t use T-Mobile, you may want to consider them. They have a service that warns you of scams before you answer the phone. Within weeks the number of potential scams dropped off the cliff. I think the scammers are focusing their efforts on people that don’t have this service.
Yea, it’s a scam. Your instinct on that first call was the correct one.
Total scam.
Nevermind.
If the information were true, you would have been notified through the mail...not by phone.
I just want to say that the company you originally did business with could have been completely legit, but they could have been victims from these scammers, who were able to hack into all their transactions in order to have the “facts” to fool you with.
Let them know what happened; they probably know they were hit but just in case. They need to inform their customers,
ID theft, they have info on you.
DO NOT TRUST OR DOWNLOAD ANYTHING, and MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT PROVIDE BANKING DETAILS. . .
(You are joking, tight. . . )
And add those numbers to your “block” list.
You went about 5000 times further than I would have gone with this crap. No amount of money they promise is worth the world of hurt you almost (or may have) opened yourself to.
IRS would not call.
Period.
Why are you answering calls at all from numbers you do not know?
Deleting it was a good first step, BUT they already accessed your computer and that program left a footprint, so while you deleted it, parts of it still remain to be exploited.
Take to trusted computer guy and have it scrubbed from your computer.
That or they are selling your info. . .that is what they also do. . .sell info about a “live” dupe.
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