The person he spoke with urged Hart to install an app called TeamViewer, he said. When he started seeing new windows flicker across his screen when he wasn’t even touching the mouse, Hart bent down under his desk and pulled the computer’s plug.
It might have saved him from a more severe scam. The fraudster had used a PayPal money request to trick Hart into thinking a charge had been posted to his account, then pressured him into installing an app that grants remote access to a computer. Hart used anti-virus software to reset his computer and purge it of the malware the scammers installed, he said.
Payment apps let you send money with the tap of a button. Unfortunately, that makes them fertile ground for scammers. This week, Help Desk heard from two readers who had run-ins with fraudsters on PayPal. Hart ended the interaction before the scammers could compromise any more of his accounts. Another person, 65-year-old Cynthia Parker from Columbia, Mo., lost around $1,400 after speaking with a scammer…
