PRESS RELEASE – Microsoft today warned St. Lucians to be wary of a phone scam that has left some victims around the world hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
Scammers are using several well-known brands, including Microsoft, to fool people into believing that something is wrong with their computers. The scam typically unfolds in the following manner:
• A cold caller, claiming to be a representative of Microsoft, one of its brands or a third party contracted by Microsoft, tells the victim they are checking into a computer problem, infection or virus that has been detected by Microsoft.
• They tell the victim they can help and direct them to a website that then allows the scammers to take remote control of the computer.
• The cold caller will then spend some time on the computer trying to demonstrate where the ‘problems’ are and in the process convinces the victim to pay a fee for a service that will fix the computer.
Don’t be fooled, Microsoft is not cold calling consumers in regards to malfunctioning PCs, viruses or any other matter. We strongly advise St. Lucians to simply hang up if they receive a call of this nature and not to respond to any communications from these scammers.
Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information.
You will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft or our partners to charge you for computer fixes.