Our computers are home to our most personal information: passwords, pictures, and documents that are all safely tucked away in our hard drives. But for some, it’s this very information that hackers are getting their hands on.
For Vince Marsala, it all started with a simple phone call.
“He said, ‘Your computer has been corrupted.’ And for some reason, I chose to believe him,” Marsala recalled.
It was a choice that ultimately would wipe his computer clean– the documents, memories, and photos with it.
“There should be an album…” ABC2 In Focus Investigator, Tony Marsala, said as he sat next to his father searching the desktop.
Typically behind the camera and many times helping to report on other scams, when the scam happened to his father, Tony wanted to warn viewers.
“I think the album is gone, Dad, that’s what I’m saying,” he said, clicking through what appeared to be a blank computer.
The caller told his father Vince that his computer was full of viruses and that he needed to pay up almost $200 or they’d wipe the laptop’s memory.
“It’s too late to do anything, but you’re stuck.” Marsala said.
It’s a story Sharon Garrity knows all too well.
“I was having problems at the time, I have a window that keeps popping up that I can’t get rid of. So I fell for it,” Garrity remembered.
She wire transferred almost $250 after she says the caller convinced her that he’d rid her computer of the viruses that were slowing it down.
“They sounded very professional. And he told me to hit two buttons on the computer and he was in there. He has remote control of my computer.” Garrity said.
She says her cursor was moving around, operated remotely by a hacker.
“It ticks me off. It really upsets me, because there are so many scams out there and you never know what’s legitimate,” said Garrity.
“Once you let somebody in your computer, you’ve opened up your whole life to them,” said Maryland Attorney General, Brian Frosh.
The Attorney General’s Office says they’ve gotten more than 20 complaints of this type of computer scam since January 2014.
“I’m not surprised at the number. I think that’s the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure there are many, many more people who’ve been scammed who didn’t think to call the Attorney General’s office,” Frosh said.
Frosh calls it a ‘big problem’ and says they’re seeing hackers pop up more and more often.
“These guys are difficult to catch. They may not be operating from within the boundaries of the United States,” he said.
For the Marsalas, not handing over the money meant paying up in a big way, a hard drive full of priceless memories– gone.
“I always thought 60 was an old age, you know? And I’ve never felt old until now. Now I feel like I’ve really been taken advantage of,” Marsala said.
Frosh stresses the importance of reporting scams if they happen to you.
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