Thurles and its environs are once again being targeted, over the past week, by ‘Computer Phone Scammers.’
Numerous local people have reported receiving phone calls this week, originating from unscrupulous individuals, latter claiming to be employees of “Microsoft Support” and informing you that your computer has become infected by a virus.
If you do receive such a call, DO NOT SWITCH ON YOUR COMPUTER – DO NOT ENTER LINKS or OTHER CODE, which you most certainly will be requested to do by these cyber criminals.
These unsolicited telephone calls, which are always an attempted criminal act, could end up costing you a great deal of money should you decide to co-operate in any way with their requests. Their activity can involve infecting your PC/Laptop, stealing Passwords or totally locking you out your equipment, the latter before then requesting you to pay a small ransom to be allowed to access your equipment once again.
The international “00201” prefix of the telephone number, being used to contact computer owners, suggests that these IT criminal calls are originating in African countries. In some cases your personal private number, when initially contacted, is terminated by these initial scam artist, thus inviting you to phone back an unknown number at your considerable expense.
Remember, when in doubt simply hang up your phone. Just be vigilant and do inform your friends via your social media, to ensure all are made fully aware.
Thanks for the heads up! I learned that scammers obtain the name and number of people from phone directories so don’t be surprised if they might know your basic information and even guess the operating system you’re using. So remain vigilant. Watch out for red flags. I strongly suggest reporting phone scams so spread the word about the scam and warn others.