Yes, I’ve been on my soapbox preaching away for a long time. In fact, three years ago, I published this video:
The IC3
Yesterday, the FBI Released the Internet Crime Complaint Center 2019 Internet Crime Report. This review covers all the financial losses that people and companies incurred in 2019 because of Internet scammers and hackers. One of those areas in Tech Support.
According to the FBI’s review, “In 2019, the IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center) received 13,633 complaints related to Tech Support Fraud from victims in 48 countries. The losses amounted to over $54 million, which represents a 40 percent increase in losses from 2018. The majority of victims reported to be over 60 years of age.“
Looking At The Report
When you look at this report regarding Tech Support Fraud, you have to remember that these are reported cases. I’ve had a number of customers who got tricked into calling a fake Tech Support company and paying money needlessly. Once they realized it was a scam, they had us clean everything up. Then, they told me they weren’t going to call their credit card company to protest the charge because they were embarrassed that they got ripped off. Even though I encouraged them to call, then didn’t. In other words, their crime never got reported and, thus, isn’t in the FBI’s statistics. $54 million is probably just the tip of the iceberg.
The IC3 has a great web page covering Tech Support scams and you should absolutely take the time to read it. You’ll find the link below. When you read it, you’ll probably notice that much of the material sounds like my soapbox preaching. Additionally, the IC3 has a place for you to file a complaint if you do get scammed online. You can reach that page by clicking the button below.
Soapbox Point: They Don’t Call Out Of The Blue
Remember: Microsoft, Apple, Google and other big companies like them will NEVER call you out of the blue and tell you there are problems with your computer. They will NEVER cause a pop-up to appear on your screen asking you to call a number because there’s an issue. If you receive this kind of call, hang up on them. If you get a pop-up on your computer and don’t know how to get rid of it without calling the scammer’s number, call us. We will help you.
Finally, our Remote Technical Support is not a scam. We will never tell you something is wrong when it isn’t. We will never ask you to pay absorbent sums of money so we can fix your computer. We will never log onto your computer – you always have to log into us.