Phone scammers on the books

ABUSIVE computer scammers are trawling the Southern Downs phone book for unsuspecting victims.

Warwick resident Hewan Gibson recently wrote to the Free Times to warn others of the dangers after he was bombarded with unsolicited calls.
“Most people would have received phone calls from an overseas source telling them that it was from Microsoft and that there was something wrong with their computer,” he said.
“In my case it was several times a week and just recently, three times one night when the caller got quite aggressive when I would not go to my computer and turn it on.
“I thought I had better ring Microsoft in case there was really something wrong, they assured me that it was a scam and that they never contacted customers by phone.”
However, Mr Gibson said in this case it was not a nasty scam as the caller’s idea was to on-sell computer protection software.
“The problem is that if you let them into your computer and then decide that you don’t want to buy, they can stuff it up so that you have to buy,” he said.
“I was advised to say that I had rung Microsoft and that there was nothing wrong with my computer, which might prompt them to strike my name off the list.”
Residents should also ask for details from the caller and never give personal information including usernames or even the type of computer they are using.
As with the old saying, if an offer sounds too good to be true – it probably is.