Common Scams

Computer repair phone scam:

Firstly if you have done the unfortunate thing of handing over your credit card details to someone cold calling and saying your computer is infected, then call your bank immediately, stop reading this and call your bank now!

This scam is very common.  We are receiving a lot of calls from customers who have been contacted by a call centre claiming to be from Microsoft or "Windows 7" among other names, the caller points out that your computer is infected and as a result is sending "warnings" to Microsoft and the police.  They offer to fix the infections via remote support, they will ask you to visit a website which will give them full control of your computer, they then proceed to install rogue security software and other malware on your computer, finally they will ask for payment via credit card.

Avoid this, it is a scam, do not pay.  If you receive a call from someone saying your computer is infected hang up immediately.  Unfortunately this scam is becoming more and more common, and customers have ended up handing over control of their pc, or even worst their credit card details.  If you have handed over your credit card details then call your bank immediately, again stop reading this and call your bank now!  If you have handed over control of your computer, the best thing you can do is switch it off and call us on 0800 535 555, we will backup all your important files etc... then erase the hard drive and perform a factory reset, or in "Jargon" as they call it a format and reinstall of Windows.  This way we can guarantee nothing is left on there from these scammers.

These scammers can be quite aggressive sometimes and will keep calling back, and the best thing you can do is just hang up the moment you know it’s a scam.

For more informtation on all the latest scams and to report a scam, please visit The Orb website www.theorb.org.nz.