Staff
District residents are reminded to remain vigilant as various phone scams aimed at gaining access to personal computers and information continues to make the rounds throughout the area.
Hoping to warn other residents about this scam, local resident Holly Gosselin said she received a call Wednesday from someone intent on accessing her computer and the possible personal data contained within it.
“[The caller] said he’s phoning anybody who has a computer in Fort Frances because it’s corrupting the Internet, and its corrupting your computer,” Gosselin recalled.
The caller instructed her to log into a website—a site which would ultimately give him the ability to access her computer remotely, she noted.
“He was very, very, very persistent,” said Gosselin, adding the scammer insisted there was no one in town capable of fixing the computer problem.
“It’s almost like he’s going to take legal action if you don’t comply, like he works for the government,” she added, saying she thankfully realized it to be a scam.
“[It could work] even if a kid answers the phone, and then he gets the kid to go to the computer—they might be trying to get people’s Visa numbers, whatever,” Gosselin said.
“So I just want to try and get it out there.”
The caller ID on her phone came up as with “no name” being available, Gosselin noted. When she requested the caller’s name, he said it was “Peter Parker”—a name synonymous with the cartoon superhero, “Spiderman.”
In early May, the OPP received several complaints from local residents reporting similar phone scam attempts.
In some of these cases, the caller falsely identified himself as being from Microsoft and needing remote access to the computer by saying they were receiving an error message from the person’s computer.
The OPP reminds residents to be mindful of who they give personal information to.
Those who may have experienced this type of situation are urged to contact Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501 or via e-mail at info@antifraudcentre.ca
