An Okotoks business owner is warning of a scam that’s becoming increasingly prevalent amongst local elderly residents.
Owner of Okotoks Computers, Peter Van den Wildenbergh heard from nine local seniors last week, all looking for help after a similar experience.
They’d all experienced scams relating to granting remote access to their computers.
It begins with the victim receiving a call or a message on their computers from someone posing as an IT specialist or a Microsoft employee.
The scammer will convince the victim there’s some sort of issue with their computer, and pressure the victim into granting remote access of their computer to the scammer.
Van den Wildenbergh says younger demographics are usually able to catch on, so older generations are targeted more often.
“They are more trustworthy, they see them as some sort of authority. It’s called social engineering, they pretend to be from Microsoft or Norton or some other big name that anybody knows, and (victims) say ‘oh, that must be important.’ It’s like the government is calling, so they are handing over whatever information they’re asking for without a second thought until it’s too late.”
Remote access allows third parties complete access to a computer as if they were sitting in front of it. It’s often used for IT solutions within companies.
“Those scammers know that they had you once, they will try again and their tactics become more and more aggressive. They will call…
