Computer scam in Capital Region - NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports

Computer scam in Capital Region

ALBANY, N.Y. - It all begins with a phone call during which the victims are told Microsoft has noticed a serious problem with the computer and needs to gain access in order to fix it.

The Attorney General's office says it is aware of this scam, as well as Microsoft.

A computer technician NEWS10 who spoke with Wednesday night says giving that caller access to your computer is like giving them the key to your house.

"It is concerning," says Amy Sullivan. "You don't think it's ever going to happen to you."

Sullivan says the first words she heard from the so-called representative from Microsoft is that her computer was at risk of crashing. "He was asking for a certain code on my computer and was guiding me on how to find that code."

The code is an IP address, which allows access to a computer.

Sullivan says from there, the caller then had remote access to her laptop. "I was very worried about that, because when had control of my computer, he had the mouse going everywhere," she says.

Sullivan says after an hour and a half, her gut told her it was a scam.

Chris Clark, a computer technician at Cheap Geek in Burnt Hills, says a caller only needs a few minutes "Once you allow them control of your computer, they have access to basically everything that's on your machine," he says.

But Sullivan is not just an isolated victim.

NEWS10 spoke with Chuck Gochenour of Galway, who tells a very similar story.

"He wanted me to look up some information on my computer to give to him, and convinced me to go into it and read off whatever information, which ended up being the IP number."

Both Gochenour and Sullivan say what worries them the most is what the caller's ultimate goal could have been.

"Is it just to sell something, or is to gain access to your information," says Sullivan.