I-TEAM Consumer Alert: Criminals use computer pop ups to empty bank accounts

DAYTON — Criminals impersonating computer anti-virus programs are using scary tactics to gain access to your information and money.

News Center 7 Consumer Adviser Clark Howard warns never to click on a computer pop-up.

“That click could lead you to real trouble,” Howard said.

Gwinnett County resident Laura Hayes told News Center 7 that she and her husband nearly emptied their bank account after a pop-up warned them their computer had been compromised.

“There was a profile, a darkened profile of a person in the middle, which was kind of creepy and a voice began to say, alert, alert, alert over and over,” Hayes said the voice claimed to be from Microsoft Defender and told her she would lose all her data if she turned the computer off.

When her husband called the number provided by the pop-up, the person on the other end of the phone told him the computer had been hacked and a diagnostic test needed to be performed overnight.

“At this point we’re concerned, and we’re scared, but we’re thinking they’re really on to something and they’re really going to help us not get scammed,” Hayes said.

Threat researcher Willis McDonald says crooks bank on that fear.

“It’s a psychological thing and they know that if they can create urgency just a small bit of panic in you, they can turn that into causing you to take action and take the action they want,” McDonald said.

For Hayes, the action the fraudster wanted her to take was to empty her bank account.

“They said they wanted us to get our cash. they want us to bring the cash back to our house. and then they would send someone from the Federal Trade Commission(FTC) to get the cash.” Laura said that’s when she knew they were being scammed and called Team Clark’s Consumer Action Center.

“She was very kind, and she said, ‘Unplug that computer now, do not do anything else. Unplug it and do not plug it back in,’” Hayes said both she and her husband are grateful the only thing they lost was sleep.

“It can happen so quickly and easily. They make you believe somehow, they just get in your head somehow,” Hayes said.

The FTC addresses these types of scams on its website. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/03/did-you-get-call-or-text-about-suspicious-purchase-amazon-its-scam

McDonald said taking a moment to breathe is key to protecting yourself.

“Most of the time, if you can, think about taking that pause before you take action that will stop you from being a victim, of really many types of scams,” McDonald said companies like Microsoft will never contact you with a pop-up.

They’re not going to ask for money. They’re not going to ask you to call a number to get something fixed,” he said.

Howard said if you need to contact customer service, go directly to the company’s website.

Hayes wants what happened to her to serve as a warning for others.

“We’re not safe. There’s not a way to build a big enough wall around you. We just have to keep our guard up and just be very, very careful,” she said

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