'Microsoft' scam circulates Bundy

AMS Computers Services is calling on Bundaberg residents to be on their guard against a convincing scam making the rounds.

Mathew Wright, owner/operator of AMS Computers, is concerned about clients getting calls from ‘Microsoft’ asking for remote access to their computers. . Picture: Mike Knott

AMS Computers Services is calling on Bundaberg residents to be on their guard against a convincing scam making the rounds.

AMS employee Jenny Wright said she had spoken to several people in town who had received a call from people claiming to be from Microsoft.

“These people say they are calling from Microsoft and they say there is a serious problem with your computer,” Mrs Wright said.

“Then they tell people to turn on the computer and to go through the steps to give them remote access.

“Once they get in they may change a few settings and they tell the people they can fix the problems for a fee. Then they ask for their credit card details.”

Mrs Wright said about 15 of her Bundaberg customers had received the call.

“That's just the ones that tell us,” she said.

“There could be more.”

Mrs Wright said the scam had been costly for one of her clients who allowed the scammers access to his computer.

“They had one of our customers on the phone for about two hours,” she said.

“They changed a lot of stuff on his computer and when they asked for his credit card number he finally got suspicious and hung up, but they caused a lot of damage before that.

“Then he had to pay for the labour for us to fix it anyway. Most of our customers stopped before they allowed them to get into their computer.”

Mrs Wright said scams similar to this one were a sore point for the business.

“We had a customer lose over $60,000 a few years ago in a scam,” she said.

Mrs Wright said she was always warning customers not to fall for the many scams that were out there.

“If it's a call people just need to politely say goodbye and hang up,” she said.

“If it's an email, delete it straight away.”

Mrs Wright said there was a sure way to determine the scams from the real thing.

“If it's too good to be true, it usually is,” she said.

“You don't need to be rude to the ones that call but you do need to be firm so they get the idea that they won't get anything from you.”

For more information on the different scams circulating, what to watch out for or to report a scam, head to www.scamwatch.gov.au or phone [phone].

Originally published as 'Microsoft' scam circulates Bundy