Douglas Sheriff's Office Says Watch Out for Tech Support Claims

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office say if you receive a call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft tech support, chances the person is a phony.

The office said in a news release that Microsoft posted the following on its website:

”(The caller) might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license. Once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:

Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.

Convince you to visit legitimate websites to download software that will allow them to take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.

Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.

Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor our partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.”

You can read more about this scam on Microsoft’s web site.