Police Warn of Computer Virus Scam

Northampton Township Police are warning residents of a scam in which callers pretent to be Microsoft employees who can fix computer viruses.

According to police, the scam involves a caller who claims to work for Windows or Microsoft and says they have detected a virus or problems with your computer.

To confirm the diagnosis, they ask you to open a "Windows Event" viewer to check if it is infected. "Several error messages are listed, even though errors are common and often harmless," police explained.

The caller then says the errors are of great concern and offers to refer you to a technician for a fee, police said. The technician then asks users to log on to a third-party website so they can remotely access your computer.

Once that happens, the scammer might install an antivirus program (often one that you can download for free) for up to $250, ask for your credit card details, install malware so your computer can be controlled remotely and access and steal personal and financial details from your computer, police said

"Already tens of thousands of individuals have fallen victim to this scam," a notice from Northampton Township police said.   

According to police, neither Microsoft nor their partners make unsolicited phone calls to charge for computer security or software fixes.

"If anyone from any technology company (Amazon, Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung, etc) calls out of the blue, hang up, look up the number for their tech support online, and call their tech support directly. This will help verify that the call is legitimate," police said. "Never give out any financial information to someone over the phone unless you initiated the transaction."