Beware of this new email scam going around New Jersey
With more and more of our lives online, and much of our time and business being tied to our devices, there is no shortage of clever scams out there to take our money and our information.
The latest targets more mature people using their computers. This email scam, which imitates a Best Buy Geek Squad invoice, indicates that your subscription is due to expire and that your account either will be charged or might have already been charged.
When you call the phone number, they will ask for payment in exchange for allowing the antivirus software to remain on your computer; and if you don’t pay, they will demand access to your computer to remove their software or they attempt to help you make sure you weren’t already charged for the renewal.
They will convince you to give them access to your computer, and prove to you how much you need their antivirus protection by demonstrating how certain sites are secure.
Then, they will pivot back to making sure you didn’t already get charged, and ask that you check out your online banking on the computer (which they have access to) just to be sure you weren’t charged.
A call to the real Geek Squad confirmed that it wasn’t them when this was tried on a neighbor in our area. These scammers are getting more creative and devious in the way they prey on people. Here is how to protect yourself against this latest scam.
Be very careful, and double-check any unsolicited calls and emails!
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.
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