A Nottingham woman had a lucky escape after a fraudster gained access to her laptop remotely after he pretended to be working for her internet service provider.
The victim answered the phone with the caller claiming to be able to fix her internet access through her laptop.
The fraudster gained access to her laptop remotely and tried to steal money through her online banking account.
The woman refused this action and the con-artist became verbally aggressive and she hung up.
The call in November last year came out of the blue, but after suffering from internet issues in the past she was happy to take the call from the internet provider.
The victim explained: “The man on the phone clearly was very knowledgeable and gave an ID number in case the phone disconnects. It was hugely convincing and that’s why I was happy he accessed my laptop remotely.
“He quickly got access to my phone and he then asked me to open my online baking and verify my account payments to my provider.
“A payment of £500 was made to one of the victim’s friends by the suspect, at that point I believed that it was by mistake. Alarm bells started to ring in my head.
“He had total control of my laptop and I spotted that a new pin code came up on my mobile when a new payee is added onto online banking account.
“This was really suspicious as he was only trying to fix the internet connection. I challenged this and he suddenly became very aggressive and he threatened me.
“I didn’t authorise the transaction. The bank account was locked and I managed to block the transfer of funds thankfully.
“I’ve learnt since that the £500 was a test to see if they could get away with transferring money without the bank or me being alerted.
“It was a bit of luck escape as it could have been so much worse. I can see why people might fall for things like this as they were very persistent and convincing.
“I fell for it because I wasn’t feeling myself, I was tired and I had received letters from my provider to advise looking at my internet connection issues.
“Thankfully it didn’t go any further. I was able to get the £500 back through my friend and contact my provider to get a new router and landline fitted, just to be safe.
“It’s been a real inconvenience as the laptop was locked externally, so that’s meant I’ve had to try and get it fixed which took time.
“I then had to visit the bank and set up a new account and organise my direct debits. It’s really frustrating, but it’s best to be safe than sorry.
“I’ve spoken to the force’s cyber officers and they’ve been great. They’ve offered me some great advice which I’m sharing with my friends and family, so no one goes through what I went through.
“I’m very thankful for the help.”
Cyber protect and prevent officer Kirsty Jackson said: “I’d like to thank the victim for coming forward and taking on board all the advice we gave her. She’s gone on to share this with her friends and family so it doesn’t happen again.
“I spoke to her at length about what she can do online to make sure she isn’t defrauded again. All the information is on the force’s website, in an online safety checklist, so we’d urge others to give it a read. It might save you hundreds of pounds.
“Remote access scams are sadly common these days. Scammers posing as IT departments, network providers or online shopping companies to trick victims into relinquishing control of their devices to hack into their accounts and steal sensitive data.
“Never allow remote access to any of your devices. You may get asked to type something into a web browser, this can allow the caller to make it look like you are being hacked or to gain remote access to your devices. Don’t download anything an unknown caller has asked you to. Please warn friends, family and neighbours as these scams are a particular issue within Nottinghamshire.
“Thankfully in this case the victim didn’t lose her life savings. Others aren’t so fortunate.”
Advice to safe online
– Look out for the padlock and HTTPS within browsers for the most secure way of browsing (this ‘S’ stands for secure). Make sure the web address is spelt correctly to help avoid accessing a fake site.
– Make sure privacy settings are updated and set on social media profiles.
– Keep passwords secure by using three random words, mixed in with upper and lowercase characters, numbers and symbols.
– Set Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) within online accounts including email as this is an extra layer of security for online accounts as it makes people verify their identity when logging in.
Please visit www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware/home for the National Cyber Security centres top six ways to improve your online security.
What is remote access software?
Remote access software enables people to use one device to access another from any location by downloading a smartphone app or installing a program on their computer.
A simple passcode will then connect the two devices.
Typically victims will get a phone call from someone claiming to be from a known company, commonly impersonated firms, in which they try to convince the victim to grant them access to their device, claiming they will fix a spurious problem.
Other scammers are sneakier still, directing people to websites where clicking on the various brand names downloads the software, although they would still need the person to enter a code to connect to their device.
Once they have access, they may put up a fake screen and work in the background to download other software, access the victim’s online banking account or steal passwords and other personal data.
Find out more about how to stay safe online through the force’s website: https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/cybercrime
