OPP issue warning after Milverton resident duped by ‘fake charge’ scam

Provincial police in Perth County are warning area residents about a “fake charge” scam after an area resident suffered a loss of close to $1,000.

The OPP say the officers were called to a home in Milverton on Tuesday at around 9 a.m. after a resident reported being victimized by an online scam.

Police say officers discovered that the victim had received a pop-up a day earlier which stated that the computer was infected with a virus and that the person should call a number to get the issue fixed.

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Police say that the victim granted the scammers remote access to the computer. Police say the hackers then grabbed the victim’s personal info. The victim also gave the scammers a credit card number and was billed $940, police say.

Police are warning residents to keep in mind that if they do not make the call, they should not allow anyone to access their computer.

They also say people should not give out personal, banking or credit card information to anyone unless they are certain whom they are providing it to. A reputable organization would not ask to provide the information unless the customer or client called them.

Police also warn people not to download anti-virus software from a pop-up or link, to keep anti-virus software updated, and to not click on any links or attachments that are from strangers.

They also suggest keeping your browser’s pop-up blocking feature turned on and not clicking on any pop-up windows which claim your computer has a virus.