JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The state of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation is warning you to protect yourself from a growing scam risk Tuesday night.
A study by the Pew Research Center finds 84 percent of U.S. households own a computer. But with the rise in use of computers and smartphones comes more scammers wanting to get your personal information.
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Just about everyone has a smartphone or a computer and it’s these high-tech devices that have become targets for a new kind of scammer looking to steal your money.
The Florida Office of Financial Regulation is reminding the public to look out for scammers disguised as tech support workers. It’s a growing group and they’re targeting the technology most people already have.
“Sometimes they don’t do anything, sometimes they infect your machine,” said Christopher Hamer, network administrator, Bradford County Sheriff’s Office. “Sometimes they resell you a legitimate software product for ten times what its online price is.”
Tech expert, Hamer says it’s becoming increasingly common.
Many of these scammers will call victims saying they’ve detected a virus on their device even using technical jargon to confuse the victim. Then they will offer a quick fix saying they need remote access to your device. However, “the fix” is what will actually compromise or disable the technology.
Hamer says scammers are doing it to get people’s personal information and much more.
“A lot of it is actually more about utilizing the device and the Internet capability that it has that you can surf the Web without knowing it and be driving sales or what are called click-throughs to these people.”
A click-through is the act of clicking on a hypertext link giving access to a website most likely a commercial one.
The state points to several red flags to be on the lookout for:
- Unsolicited calls from anyone claiming to be from a technology company.
- High-pressure sales tactics to purchase software or computer repair services.
- Urgently asking for permission to remotely access your computer.
- Requests for credit card numbers, personal ID information, or passwords.
Hamer says the consequences can be devastating for victims.
“Well loss of their personal information, loss of control over their bank accounts,” Hamer said. “If they use their phones to do transfers, they may find that those transfers get interfered with, interrupted, misdirected or redirected.”
The state says most of these scammers are contacting people by phone. If you receive one of these phone calls – you’re asked to hang up and file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.