The Competition Bureau is warning consumers to hang up on people who claim to be tech experts and who say your computer has a nasty virus. There are fraudsters who telephone people and tell them they will lose their private information including banking data and social insurance number unless they buy some miracle software or give up remote access to their computer so they can fix it.
The so called ‘scareware’ scam can also come in the form of a pop-up message that appears to be official and says your computer has been infected. In its capacity as an independent law enforcement agency, the Competition Bureau is warning people to not be taken in by what is an increasingly common scam.
‘Protect your computer at all times’
To protect themselves, the consumer alert advises people to turn on their pop-up blockers, to hang up on callers claiming to be tech experts, never share login information, use strong passwords, update your web browser and operating system and use anti-virus programs and firewalls.
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