{"id":60119,"date":"2019-01-28T09:38:26","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T15:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=60119"},"modified":"2019-01-28T09:38:26","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T15:38:26","slug":"scammers-portraying-security-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/scammers-portraying-security-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Scammers Portraying Security Companies Offer Major Refunds"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Old Scam Gains More Traction…<\/h3>\n

Almost a year ago, we broke news<\/a> on a scam hackers were running offering refunds for companies that were “going out of business”.\u00a0 In reality, none of these companies were really shutting down.\u00a0 Instead, hackers were using this as an excuse to gain the personal banking information of victims, so they could “process” the refund.<\/p>\n

To this day, one of the major businesses hackers claim to represent is “antivirus providers”.\u00a0 Hackers know, with the increased dependency on technology, most people have a computer or mobile device that should have antivirus protection on it.\u00a0 Scammers are exploiting this, by calling unexpected victims claiming to be from their “antivirus company”, which they claim is going out of business.\u00a0 Their comments will remain vague, careful not to disclose a company name.\u00a0 Instead, they wait for the victim to respond with something like “Oh, PC Matic?”.\u00a0 And just like that, they have the information they need.\u00a0 Often times, the victim doesn’t think twice that they’ve given the hackers the information they needed to appear to be legitimately from their security solution.<\/p>\n

This is exactly what happened to a 67-year-old\u00a0Arkansas resident<\/a>.\u00a0 After providing her banking information for the refund, the scammer called back saying the wrong amount was transferred, and she would need to transfer back thousands of dollars.\u00a0 It was then, she realized it was a scam.\u00a0 She immediately hung up and froze her bank accounts.<\/p>\n

Don’t be a Victim<\/h4>\n

First, it is important to know, companies are not going to call every customer offering a refund if they go out of business.\u00a0 Instead, they would likely do a major press release and\/or send out a letter or email confirming the company’s doors are closing.\u00a0 Taking the time to notify each customer by phone is not realistic.\u00a0 If you receive a call like this, you’re encouraged to tell them you know it’s a scam.\u00a0 They will likely hang up, and not call again.<\/p>\n

Also, do your due diligence and share this information with your friends and family.\u00a0 The more people know the less likely they are to fall\u00a0victim.<\/p>\n

Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Old Scam Gains More Traction… Almost a year ago, we broke news on a scam hackers were running offering refunds for companies that were “going out of business”.\u00a0 In reality, none of these companies were really shutting down.\u00a0 Instead, hackers were using this as an excuse to gain the personal banking information of victims, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,109],"tags":[1153,108,133],"class_list":["post-60119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","category-pc-matic-blog","tag-antivirus","tag-pc-matic","tag-scam"],"yoast_head":"\nScammers Portraying Security Companies Offer Major Refunds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Scammers know cyber security should be taken seriously, and that most users have some sort of antivirus protection. 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