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.
I would not trust it.
All you have to do is call the credit card company. They never call.
THIS IS A SCAM!!
well I didn’t. And they won’t get that far with me if they try calling back again.
Hang up on anyone with an accent . . . of any kind.
I don’t take phone calls from numbers that I don’t recognize and haven’t for close to ten years. It’s never caused me any problem. You might want to do the same.
Say it ain't so.........................
They were mining Logons and passwords
This isn’t that complicated. Under no circumstances do you discuss financial information or provide access to your computer to someone who has called you. If it’s urgent call them back on a number you can verify.
If they were legit then they would have all necessary information at their disposal to issue a refund. A last resort would be a check issued in your name. If they call back tell them to just issue a refund check, that that will suffice with you.
Absolutely, treat it as a scam. There is no legitimate reason a company claiming to owe you $200 would require you to send them $9,800 unless they were trying to rip you off for $9,800.
I had been “sorta” doing that but I get so many on my cell from numbers I don’t know that I usually just answer but don’t say anything and wait until they speak. Most just hang up. But from now on anonymous and unknown will be at the top of my ignore list.
This exact scam was thoroughly investigated on a podcast called Reply All a few weeks ago. The company that runs it is out of Delhi. You should know better when they start asking and saying completely stupid things. You may have already been had.
You gave them access to your computer??????
Well as I wrote, they left nothing behind. And today I’m changing my account user IDs and passwords, plus I have lifelock so I don’t think they’ll get far.
They still have access to your computer because you loaded their software.
I wouldn’t have given them five minutes. I don’t trust anyone like that. Next time tell them you want to call the bank/credit card company first to verify.
Are you serious?
No legitimate business will EVER need access to your computer Never!
Nor will any legitimate business EVER need your login or password. Never!
Total scam. With half a dozen flaming red flags.
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