Imagine working on your computer and getting an alert on your screen—that’s what happened to one viewer wanting to spread the word about this new scam.
Viewer message:
"My computer locked up with a loud alert telling me I had been hacked and NOT to shut down my computer. I did shut it down. This morning, I opened it and the same alert claiming to be Microsoft appeared. After a lot of assurances of assistance and 'not to worry,' they transferred me to the FTC. He told me my identity was being used in Texas and I was wanted by the Feds for downloading and sharing child porn and for gambling. That my SSN had to be suspended and I could either let them straighten it out or hire an attorney. He got pretty rude. I told him I was going to check on it further and hung up. My neighbor got the same initial alert, but she contacted the Geek Squad and they told her to ignore it. Wish I had talked to her sooner."
We've seen hackers get more creative through phone calls, texts, emails, and mail. But now they’re literally popping up on your computer screen. News 3 touched base with local cybersecurity expert Len Gonzales from Ally Cyber Investigations. He says this happens more often than you think.
“They want access to data. They want access to financial institutions or banking accounts. They want access to our passwords and social media because all of those things are just a mining field for them to sift through for them to exploit us,” said Gonzales.
He recommends first staying vigilant. Anything that comes up that’s not requested could be a scam on your phone, email, computer, etc. He also recommends that if you find yourself in this situation, you should call your bank. Make sure to change your passwords, and if you gave remote access to your computer, disable pop-ups and perform a hard factory reset.
“Of course, if you feel like you’re really hacked, I would consult with a professional to help you remove viruses and information from your computer that helps you not be hacked anymore,” said Gonzales.
This article was researched, reported, and written by a WTKR News 3 journalist. AI was used to minimize typos and ensure style continuity.
