CALGARY – A Strathmore man says he’s learned the hard way after handing over his personal information to a company he wasn’t familiar with.
Jamie Voth received a phone call from a company called Virtual PC Doctor, which informed him he had infections on his P.C. They then told him they could remove them.
Having recently dealt with a computer virus, Jamie thought it was a good idea.
“They told me it was free and nothing will be billed for you… I gave them the green light to go ahead and scan my computer. I trusted in what they were saying was legit,” says Jamie.
After granting remote access to his computer and watching while software was installed, Jamie became suspicious when the questions became personal.
“They started to ask for personal information, Mastercard, Visa, Pay Pal.”
Jamie asked the woman on the phone why they needed his credit card information if the service was free. He was told it was a security issue.
A quick check of his Pay Pal account revealed a payment of nearly $300 to the company.
After Jamie contacted Global News, we found a local security expert in Strathmore came to his home to help.
It didn’t take him too long to discover some suspicious programs.
“Depending on what it is, it can hijack your IP address,” says Brian Kroeger from Geeks Electronics.
“If they do that it basically gives them anytime access to your system.”
Brian immediately removed Virtual PC Doctor from Jamie’s computer – but it wasn’t easy.
The program wouldn’t allow Brian to uninstall unless he checked the “˜work offline’ button.
Brian says it’s similar to other scams he’s encountered.
“It’s similar to a bait and switch where they have a screen up to show you they’re doing something that makes sense to you but in the background they could be running, scanning software looking for personal information such as bank account information, passwords and they can also install programs, key loggers, hijacker programs, IP attack programs, malware, anything they want.”
To be safe, Jamie has cancelled his credit cards and Pay Pal account. He’s also changing his email address and home phone number.
Brian has offered to run a thorough check on Jamie’s computer just in case other hidden malware was installed on his hard drive.
As for the $300 fee, Pay Pal has agreed to reverse the charge.
The Better Business Bureau warns these kinds of scams are becoming more prevalent and often the caller will try to gain your trust by claiming to be affiliated with a reputable company like Microsoft.
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