A SCAMMER convinced a woman that she had a virus on her computer in an attempt to get $150 and complete a much larger scheme.

It was emphasized that removing the virus from the computer was an urgent ordeal, which led to the victim falling for the trick.

Scammers will try a few different techniques to catch their victim off guard – usually insisting it is urgent, saying it’s an emergency, or trying to catch them while in extremely happy or sad emotions.

Katy Read admitted that she fell for the scam and felt like an idiot for doing so, per the Star Tribune.

She shared her story in an article with the Star Tribune and explained it was a fake Windows Repair Department scam.

Read received a call from the so-called Windows Repair Department who told her that an “insidious computer virus is sweeping the country.”

The scammer sent Read a URL full of headlines about computer viruses – she later found out they were all old and about different viruses. 

The repair person on the phone told Read they needed to access her computer to destroy the virus.

Due to the urgency, Read went along with it.

Read allowed the scammer to access her computer and saw tons of codes go across her screen. 

This is when it dawned on her that this whole situation could be a scam and could be installing malware or gathering her personal information. 

The scammer then demanded $150 from her for completing the virus task. 

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Read was afraid that if she didn’t send that money the scammer would mess with her computer so she typed in her credit card number, sent the money, and hung up.

At the moment, she knew she had been scammed but figured that $150 was not enough to speak up about it. 

However, her credit card fraud department reached out and said there was a suspicious $1 charge on her charge and suggested a thief may have been testing out her card. 

Read got a new credit card and figured the scam must be over now. 

LARGER SCHEME 

The scammer wasn’t done yet – they called Read again and said they apologize for charging $150 and would like to send the money back. 

But the scammer demanded they get Read’s bank information to do so. 

The larger scheme involves hoping that the victim falls for this trick to get the money back and sends over their bank information. 

The scammer also insisted they gain access to the computer again to send the money.

In this situation, you must completely ignore the scammer and hang up.

If the scammer gets ahold of your bank information they could drain your bank. 

“If it looks too good to be true,” Read concluded, per Star Tribune.

‘Don’t be an idiot. Don’t fall for it.”