Scam alert. I was presenting a virtual workshop yesterday and one of my participants asked if she had to upgrade Zoom for $400 with Geek Squad in order to access the workshop. I told her that she wouldn’t have to upgrade Zoom in order to access the virtual workshop. She mentioned that as she was trying to get into Zoom, a pop up appeared on her computer, claiming to be Geek Squad requesting $400 to upgrade Zoom. I asked if she provided her credit card information to whom she thought was Geek Squad and she said no.
I informed her to not click on any links with anyone asking you for credit card information or payment. I also informed her that Geek Squad would never reach out to you by a pop up. In fact, Geek Squad doesn’t reach out to you at all. I also informed her to run a scan on her computer and download the proper software to ensure that her computer was free of any malicious intent.
Pop ups are one of the easiest ways to get someone to click. There are hundreds of other ways that someone could steal your money or steal our data. Some of the other ways are duped websites, corrupted links on websites, fake account on social media, phone call with someone acting like your bank, phone call with someone acting like your family member, credit card scanners, email attachments, text messages with link, fake emails, etc.
Be aware that cyberattacks, hacking, and fraud can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone. It doesn’t matter your age, your color, your ethnicity. It doesn’t matter where you live. it doesn’t matter how little or how much money you have. Everyone is a target. Think before you react.