Better Business Bureau
A phone scam that ranked number one last year for the Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC (BBB) is back again.
“The virus fixing scam was particularly rampant across Canada last year and we are having similar reports again,” says Danielle Primrose, BBB president and CEO. “Scammers are trying to capitalize on the public’s fear that their computer has been compromised.”
The scam always starts the same: the phone rings at their home, and the caller asks for the householder, quoting their name and address before stating that there “was a report from your internet service provider of serious virus problems from your computer.”
In order to “fix” it, the computer owner is directed to a website and told to download a program that hands over remote access to the computer. And then comes time to pay a fee for a subscription to this preventative service.
The catch: there was never anything wrong with the computer, and the owner has given a complete stranger access to every piece of data on their computer.
The company that is currently doing cold calls appears to be going under the name “Swap PC Care,” which appears to be based in India according to its website. BBB attempted to contact the company whose agent confirmed that they are calling Canadians, but refused to provide any further information.
BBB advises the public tto report any fraudulent activity to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1 (888) 495-8501 or www.antifraudcentre.ca.
