Sunday, January 19, 2014

Offers for help from ‘Texas’ sure sound like a scam

<p>Q:Twice now in the past two weeks, we've received a phone call in which the call screen shows "Texas," and the caller has a very strong, unidentifiable accent. He claims that Microsoft does not support Windows software and that our computer shows it is downloading an unusual amount of data. And, of course, he can help us.</p><p>I was suspicious, and I ran Windows Security Essentials, which indicated no issues, so I wrote it off as a scam. Then we got a second call, also from "Texas," and I flat out accused him of scamming. He got very huffy and said I didn't need to trust him, that I could check someplace that logged "recent events." An online search indicated similar scams, but I want to be sure I'm not missing something. Is this legit?</p><p>Betsy Livesay</p><p>A: You're right to be suspicious. Microsoft does support Windows software. And no one is or at least should be tracking your downloads. Yes, I would say the caller is running a scam.</p><p><a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022643431_ptechqa11xml.html">Keep reading...</a></p>

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