Community Chat

[CalminHeart]

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@beach-mom wrote:

PLEASE, PLEASE be careful! I usually am very careful. Yesterday morning during a break I checked my email and noticed one from Microsoft. We have used Microsoft in the past, and the email said they did an automatic withdrawal for our membership, saying they would use the card on file. 

When I got home I checked the email again. I always check the sender's address, and this looked legitimate. The email itself had the Microsoft logo.

So I didn't click the link, but I called the number they provided. Big Mistake! I found out after talking to one of the many fraud specialists not to trust numbers you're not sure of.

The "actor" told me I had to fill out a form to stop the withdrawal. He told me that came from another department, but he would help me get it. He took control of my computer. The form popped up, asking me name, email, phone, etc. Then it asked for the name of my bank and provided me a list. I clicked on that. The next page asked for bank information. THAT'S when I woke up. I told him I wasn't going to fill that out. He said OK, I could just log into my account on another tab to see if the money had been withdrawn. I said NO. He hung up.

 I immediately called the fraud department for our bank. The manager I talked to said to change the password for my computer and my email. He didn't see any need to change the password for the bank, but told me to keep an eye on things.

The thing that bothered me was I exited the pop up the actor used to take control, but I couldn't remove the file. The pop up seems to be legitimate, used by many. OK, let's hope everything is OK.

There's more. When I got home today, DH was standing there holding his phone and talking with someone. He needed a copy of financial reports for tax purposes. He went to the actual website of the financial company (not our bank) and got the phone number from the website he had used before. 

You guessed it. Same thing. I looked the number up, and it came from a cell phone in Idaho. THIS time the actor had access to our banking information. The actor had already hung up, after telling DH TEN people had access to our computer yesterday, but of course he would help fix it. 

I called the fraud department of our bank again. They were helpful, saying the same thing. This time they advised me to change the passwords to our account, which I did. 

Then I called Geek Squad to see if they could recommend anyone to help us with anything else we need to do. We have an appointment tomorrow to bring our computers in and get rid of the file I can't delete or uninstall.

The Geek Squad technician said actors are getting more sophisticated with their methods, duplicating websites to make them look legitimate. DH usually doesn't deal with things like this, so he was surprised and mad. The technician said it's a good idea not to call any number you're not sure about, and when it comes to banking get the phone number from a paper copy you have.

So now I have a lot of new passwords I will have trouble remembering.

Lesson learned. 

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I investigated fraud for 20 years so I'm skeptical of everything. I never open or respond to anything I don't know. The blocked list in my settings grows!

I figured this was fraud. I just hadn't seen this particular one before. 

[Pecky]

Never let anyone take possession of your computer.  I keep getting emails that my cloud storage is full and to click on something.  I put it straight to spam and report it.

[JazzyGirl]

Yes, I have received multiple emails from "Azure" questioning a charge for a non-disclosed purchase or subscription.  They don't give any description of what the charge is for or to what vendor.  So, being my curious self, I went to the Microsoft Azure site directly and found that it's a program for business applications, etc. It's a separate program under the Microsoft umbrella.  You have to be a member and pay for the subscription. 

Please DO NOT REPLY to these scammers.  They send these emails in an attempt to gather your personal information, charge cards, etc.  

[JazzyGirl]

You are so very lucky that you stopped when you did.  These viscious scammers will try anything.

I have a a suggestion on remembering passwords.  I now keep a list (on my computer and printed out)  !!  It really helps me.

[Venezia]

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@Pecky wrote:

Never let anyone take possession of your computer.  I keep getting emails that my cloud storage is full and to click on something.  I put it straight to spam and report it.

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@Pecky - This can't be emphasized too much!

So many times people say they gave someone (outside; that they don't know) access to their computers.

Years ago, I realized my DH had given some company permission to install some new printer drivers on his computer (which contains ALL of our financial information).  At a ridiculous cost, I might add.  I about went ballistic.

That turned out okay because it was, indeed, a legit Microsoft team member.  But he's NEVER done that again!  I told him I could install any drivers he needed - after all, my career was I.T. - so why didn't he just ask?

Every once in a while I'll get something like that - "Do I have permission to access your computer?"  NO, you absolutely do not!

Why anyone would ever say yes is beyond me.  Other than a lack of knowledge or naive trust that these "agents" are who they say they are and won't download any malware.

Also, never, ever click on something in these unknown, unsolicited emails - for instance, even the things that say "No", "Cancel", "Unsubscribe" or "Exit".  Bad actors know all the ways to write code to access your system.  Just shut your computer down, if you have a screen like that, that gives you no other choice.

Sadly these scumbags are with us permanently now.

[Kaiti126]

@ CalminHeart, I got the same email last week as well and have been trying for 8 straight days to speak to someone direct at Microsoft to see if this was a scam or not.  Like others already stated, up until I recieved the email I never even heard of "Azure" so all I got for my effort though is to constantly be transferred from one department to another - first to Microsoft Office, then to Windows Tech Support & Security, then to their "Business" and finally to their "Commercial" division who apparently oversee's Azure. But the problem is that when they transfer me to the Business & Commerical division, those folks disconnect me before I could even say a word! 

It's been frustrating to get one simple answer from them and I'm exhausted from making any more attempts. But I will say that the email address seems correct BUT the phone #'s listed are not affiliated with any Microsoft contact information which tells me this may be a very sophisticated scam. Only reason I am trying to have Microsoft confirm if it is or not is because I purchased Office two years ago and the amount they listed on the body of the email is the same amount I paid for it and I don't know if they hacked into my payment info or not. 

So I do recommend that you change your email password account to be on the safe side and if you never made any purchases direct from Microsoft, then just delete it. But if you have like me, then you need Microsoft to investigate and put a stop payment/block on your account.

Good luck!

[SharkE]

I just send everything to 'junk'. 

[Cats3000]

Received a couple of them.  Trashed them.

[haddon9]

@beach-mom If you have a problem like this in the future by getting a suspicious email saying that they did an automatic withdrawal from your account, just go directly to you account.  I would never go through the email or use any phone number in the email.

For example, I have gotten many scam emails telling me that I have been charged (usually a large amount) for something that I purchased from Amazon.  I just go directly to my Amazon account and of course I see nothing.  I just delete the scam email.

Same thing if you get an email saying they are using a card "on file".  Look up your CC accounts directly and see if there are any unusual charges.

Sorry this happened to you!  

[CalminHeart]

I decided to call the number the other day, just out of curiousity. It was answered as Microsoft and I asked the guy if he could tell me about Azure. He was a smarta** and said "have you heard of microsoft?" I immediately knew it was a scam. 

I'm glad I had blocked all those emails. SCAM.