Betrayal
“Life
is 10% of what happens to you,
and
90% of how you respond to it.”
-Charles
R. Swindoll
Gerald stared at his laptop screen when a
popup warning appeared telling him Microsoft Defender detected a threat and to
contact 1-800-555-1234 immediately. He was ordered to not turn off his
computer. He was informed in the message that the threat tried to go to a
password generator. Gerald was beside himself. He had to save his computer and
his bank accounts. Gerald was impressed with his computer skills because he was
able to pay a lot of his bills online. His ma and pa never touched a computer.
Helen, his wife, was waiting for him. They
were going out to eat. He ignored her angry face and turned his attention to
his computer. He called the number, and a woman told him it was serious
situation and instructed him on how to allow the company, supposedly Microsoft
Defender, to allow remote access to fix the problem. He carefully followed her
directions. Gerald was concerned that his computer would shut down, so they set
it up for his computer to continuously stay on.
Gerald’s computer sat on their kitchen
table on all night. He was told to call the same number the next day at 4:30 to
continue with the process of taking care of the threat. Gerald was beside
himself.
“Helen, I need to take care of a computer
problem. We can’t go out to eat.” She fumed and told him he was probably
dealing with hackers.
During the phone call the next day, the
threat was enhanced when a woman told him Malware Bytes were installed and a
scan started. Their work had to be carried out to the next level. A man came on
the line and told him hackers had control of his computer. He reviewed the
information and said he would work on the problem and notify banks about his
computer being hacked. He asked what banks he did business with, and the man
said he would draft a letter to the bank representatives. Gerald continued to
fret and was grateful the Microsoft Defender company was working so hard to
help him with his problem.
Again, Helen warned him he was probably
dealing with hackers and asked if she could contact Charlie her computer tech.
“They seem to be on the up and up, Helen. We
do not want to jeopardize our bank accounts.”
Gerald during a follow up conversation on
the same day was told not to talk to anyone about the problem including bank
staff. Gerald was given a code number which had to be included in all contacts
concerning the threat to verify he was working with people who were trying to
help. The man told him “No one can be trusted and because your phone is tied to
the internet the hackers can potentially hear your calls. Expect to get a call
from a bank representative.”
Gerald looked up at his large flat screen
television. “Helen, we can be watched by our television, also because it is a
smart tv. We may be watched right at this moment.” He was becoming more and
more paranoid.
Helen sighed. “Gerald, you are concerning
me. You turned over your computer to strangers who say they are helping you.
You don’t know who they are. They may be trying to gain access to our bank
accounts. You are acting really paranoid. I heard you give them our bank
information, even mine.”
“I didn’t give them account numbers so they
can’t get into our accounts.”
“That makes me feel a little better. Please
let me take your computer to Charlie and have him inspect what is going on. I
trust him and so do a lot of other people.”
“No, I want to continue with the Microsoft
Defender people and see if the problem can be resolved.”
“I think you are making a mistake.”
The phone rang and Gerald answered. It was
the computer company again.
A woman told him again that it was a
serious situation. She asked about the banks and investments he had and she
would begin a review and an investigation. She demanded he call the next
morning. He told her he had to work.
The next day at 3:30 a woman told him a
charge from a gambling website was charged to his bank account. He was not told
how much. She asked him if that was his action. Gerald told her no. His fret
mounted. He asked when his computer would be clean so he could use it again.
She wasn’t sure.
Gerald made two more phone calls to the
initial contacts, no answer, left messages. The company had him tied in knots,
not knowing where to turn next. He felt disconnected from his normal review of
his email and facebook accounts. He
wanted the problem resolved.
On day three, he received a call from a
bank representative. She said they were working with the FDIC to set up a sting
to trap the hackers and arrest them. They would provide a dummy account and he
would need to temporarily transfer money into it. It would be safe and returned
after the arrest.
Gerald finally reached his limit and told
her he did not trust them and ended contact. He told Helen what happened.
“Can I please take your computer to
Charlie?”
“Yes, go ahead. I feel really stupid that I
bought into what the hackers were telling me.”
“Gerald, laptop protection programs are not
going to contact you and give you a phone number to call them.”
“They even gave me their names and they
seemed so sincere.”
“Polite hackers. I can’t believe you worked
so much with them. It’s actually really creepy because they just wanted to take
money from you, and they created such an elaborate scam.”
Gerald reiterated and said “I really
thought my computer and bank accounts were in trouble.”
“You spent a lot of time with them.”
“I know. Too much time.”
Helen contacted Charlie and he agreed to
look at Gerald’s computer.
Gerald dropped off his computer at
Charlie’s home.
Helen met Charlie at a local coffee shop to
pick up Gerald’s computer.
“It was a clean program that I easily
removed that the hackers put on his computer. Gerald did not have any visible
passwords, so nothing was hacked.”
“That’s good to know. The hackers told him
gambling activity happened and asked him if he did that. They did not tell him
how much. They also told him not to talk to anyone about the hacking situation.
He could not trust anyone.”
“They can be very convincing. You would not
believe how often this happens. Hackers can provoke peoples’ vulnerabilities by
using their computer protection programs. I helped a man get back $60,000 that
was taken from him.”
“I am glad you were there for him. I told
Gerald computer protection programs do not contact people. He would not believe
me.”
“Hackers are getting more and more tricky.”
“They cooked up such a scheme and thought
they had a live one with Gerald. He talked to the hackers on several occasions.
They tried to convince him to put money in a dummy account so they could arrest
the hackers. That’s when he was on to them and stopped contact with them.
Gerald went to his bank and the man told him that what happened to him has
happened to many people. His bank is going to keep an eye on his account to
make sure no one tries to hack into it.”
“That’s good.”
Helen went on to say “The bank person said
they would never recommend the transfer of funds from one account to another
which was not explicitly owned by the same individual with a guarantee it would
be returned. The “sting” which was being proposed sounded like a scam and the
scammers were trying to get Gerald to give money away which would have been the
legal way as opposed to accessing an account and taking it without permission
which is stealing.”
“The scammers got his attention with a
bogus claim and then proceeded to build up his concern about his bank accounts
by lying about a transaction. They are skilled at what they do and people like
Gerald would not know it was a scam.”
“I received an alert the other day saying
it was a Microsoft Defender warning and my computer was frozen with a phone
number. I have Emsisoft coverage on my computer from you. I turned off my
laptop and turned it back on and it was fine. I was trying to explore a Wordle
program. Not doing that again.”
“You are probably safe to explore that
program again.”
“I don’t have time to play those games
anyways.”
They finished their coffee and headed in
separate directions.
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