When residents attend a Scam Squad presentation they hear a true story told by Lou Sampson. A resident reported he found his picture on his personal computer screen with a warning by a “supposed law enforcement agency” that he had been on an illegal child-porn site. Therefore he must pay a fine to the agency. By going into the site on his screen and paying the fine, the charges would be dropped.
In a previous article, Pima County Sheriff’s Captain Deanna Johnson stated that first you must be accused of a crime and then found guilty in a court of law, then judgment is passed on you perhaps in the form of a fine. No governmental agency will post online to your personal computer that you “owe a fine.”
This person revealed he received a message while surfing his computer one night – a pop-up type message said there was a lady who wanted to meet him within 10 miles of his home. He went into the site and found, in his words, “the most graphic ugly pictures that just got worse” as he tried to exit the site. The next day when he opened his personal computer he found it locked; the only picture/message was in bright color from the FBI with the above mentioned warning. This was not really from the FBI but the ruse to raise adrenalin in the would-be victim, the threat of imprisonment, to keep him from reasoning through the entire situation. This message, along with his actual picture, is enough to cause someone to believe the site from the night before may have led to child porn.
How did his picture appear on the FBI warning site scam? It has been confirmed by the real FBI from its headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, that technology exists to activate the webcam on your computer. Hackers who somehow get into your computer, can initiate the camera that you use to communicate face to face with relatives and friends, perhaps by a system like Skype. They enter your computer and can observe you without your knowledge. Perhaps you have “liked” a site or entered an unknown for more information click here site. This may have been the portal into your computer. There, silently the hacker observes information to see which scam you will likely find believable. They can also mine your computer for information. Lou Sampson suggests that you consider using a cover, like a Band-Aid with the gauze over the camera so that you do not damage the lens. Continue to use your computer’s ability to communicate with relatives and friends. Be careful of what you “like.” Family pictures do not carry a virus. Unknown sites that carry messages, even ones that you may agree with, may carry a virus. Continue to enjoy your computer communications with friends and family out of state, but be aware of “liking” unknown sites. They may carry along a Trojan Horse which, like the old telephone party lines, allows the scammers to observe or listen in to your personal communications for their fraudulent intentions.
Call the Pima County Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers with information about scams and frauds. To contact the Scam Squad call 351-6744 or email [email protected]. To report suspicious activity or a particular incident of fraud, call 351-4900.