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Local Alert – 1800 Scam doing the rounds again

This is just a quick notice to alert people of a major scam doing the rounds in Baw Baw again.  I have had a number of calls from local resident’s that have responded to a notice from their computer screen to call a 1800 number.

There are a variety of different scams that will cause this… using scare tactics like: “Your computer is about to fail… call  1800 xxxxxx for help” of ” A hacker has control of your PC… call 1800 xxxxxx so we can assist you to remove the threat” … and the list goes on.  In some cases your computer will even seem unresponsive due to hackers using a simple freezing trick, to make you think you are not in control of your computer.  If you ever see this alert, then in most cases, simply turning your computer off and on again will make it go away, however if the message is persistent, then take your computer to a professional who can fix it for you.

Warning:  Do not under any circumstances call the number on your screen.  It is a scam.  Instead please report it to the relevant Authority’s via the following link:

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam

As a reminder:  If your computer ever tells you that you have to do something, get a second independent opinion from a qualified human before taking bad advice from your PC. Your properly maintained computer should never ask you for favors, or tell you to call someone… unless of course that message is coming from fraudsters.  Treat unsolicited messages from your computer just the same as you would unsolicited nuisance calls by simply ignoring them.