Several years ago, I received a phone call from an elderly lady who had fallen victim to a scammer posing as her phone provider. She paid him close to $1,000 to fix her “issue” before realizing it was a scam. She was referred to me to delete the remote access software that the scammer had instructed her to download onto her computer and to block the scammer’s phone numbers on her phone.
Although I was aware of scammers, I wasn’t sure how to help her, so after doing some online research, I came across a YouTuber who goes by the pseudonym Jim Browning. Jim goes after scammers and with his technical skills, is able to access the scammers’ computers to save victims. He also tries to shut down call centers, many of them in India. I contacted Jim, who very kindly gave me instructions on how to block the scammer from accessing this lady’s computer.
This phone call led me down a very dark road: I wasn’t previously aware of the fact that in the U.S. alone, scammers rake in billions of dollars a year by duping their victims with stories of money owed or refunds due. The scammers send bulk emails, texts or phone calls claiming to be Social Security Administration, Norton, Microsoft, McAfee, Amazon, PayPal, etc. The scammer directs the victim to download software to take control of their computer and tricks them into believing they…
