San Mateo police are warning people of a trending crime where telephone scammers are posing as computer technicians or remote computer specialists and defrauding victims of thousands of dollars.
The scammers call victims claiming the victim’s home computer is infected with a virus and must be repaired immediately to prevent permanent damage to the computer, according to police.
The caller then asks for payment via credit card to make the repair and in some cases were even given remote access to the victim’s computer. Some of the victims paid as much as $1,200 over the phone, according to police.
Typical indicators of a scam include when an unsolicited caller says: “you’ve been specially selected for,” “you’ll get a free bonus if you buy our product,” “your computer has a virus,” “you’ve won big money in a foreign lottery,” “you don’t need to check our company with anyone,” and other misleading statements, according to police.
Anyone with information or who suspects they may have been the victim of a crime is asked to contact San Mateo police at (650) 522-7700.
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Dirk van Ulden said:
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