![\"TCSOLogo1-2014small_thumb\"](\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TCSOLogo1-2014small_thumb.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMicrosoft has sent out a press release on these types of scams. In their release they stated the person at the other end tells you they are calling to inform you that your computer has been compromised or is infected with malware or a virus. They may ask you if you think your machine has been running slowly. They will claim to be from \u2018Windows Helpdesk\u2019 or \u2018Microsoft tech support\u2019 and will tell you that you must give them access to your PC so they can check and fix the problem for you, sometimes for a fee.<\/p>\n
Microsoft reassures all users of their software that they will never make an unsolicited call to you to charge you for computer security or software fixes.<\/p>\n
If you do get one of these calls and you know it\u2019s a scam, just hang up the phone. Advise your friends and family that these kinds of calls are always scams. The more people who know, the less effective these calls will be.
\nHere are some informative and helpful tips to assist you if you find yourself in this situation.<\/p>\n
If you receive a fraudulent phone call:
\n\u2022Hang up
\n\u2022Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism and suspicion. Do not provide any personal information.
\nCybercriminals often claim to be from any of the following or similar sounding names:
\n\u2022Windows Helpdesk
\n\u2022Windows Service Center
\n\u2022Microsoft Tech Support
\n\u2022Microsoft Support
\n\u2022Windows Technical Department Support Group
\n\u2022Microsoft Research and Development Team (Microsoft R & D Team)
\nWhat can the scammers do if they gain access to my PC?
\nIf cybercriminals gain access to your computer, they may do the following:
\n\u2022Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
\n\u2022Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
\n\u2022Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
\n\u2022Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.<\/p>\n
What do I do if I have already given access to my computer?<\/p>\n
If you think that you might have downloaded malware from a phone tech support scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, take these steps:
\n\u2022Change your computer\u2019s password, change the password on your main email account, and change the password for any financial accounts, especially your bank and credit card.
\n\u2022Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer.
\n\u2022Install Microsoft Security Essentials. (Microsoft Security Essentials is a free program. If someone calls you to install this product and then charge you for it, this is also a scam.)
\n\u2022Call your bank to check that everything is in order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sonora, CA…The Tuolumne County Sheriff\u2019s Office has received several reports of Microsoft fraudulent calls. It has been reported that the calls are coming from an 825 area code, notifying you that there is a problem with your computer. The caller asks if your computer is on and proceeds to give you directions on what buttons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,16,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-law-enforcement","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/TCSOLogo1-2014small_thumb.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}