New Providence Resident Falls Victim To Computer Scam

From the New Providence Police Dept.:

On July 20, a resident of Charnwood Road indicated that a person called them on their house phone and identified themselves as an employee with “Microsoft Windows Service Center.” 

The person said they called to advise her that her computer was sending error messages to the Windows’s Help Center.  This person convinced the resident to allow the suspect to connect remotely into her computer. 

The suspect placed a virus on the computer and a prompt appeared that stated that she needed to enter a password to regain access to her computer. 

The suspect told the resident that she would have to pay $3 for a virus protector called “Windows Defender.”

The suspect asked for a credit card number and when the resident wouldn’t give it to the suspect, he told her she wouldn’t be able to access her computer again. He then hung up and the resident hasn’t heard from him since. 

It is unknown at this point if the suspect stole the resident’s personal information while he was remotely connected to the computer or if the goal was to get the resident’s credit card number in order to make fraudulent charges to the card. 

This is the first time that the New Providence Police have been notified of this type of scam and the department is urging residents to continue to be vigilant when giving out personal information. 

Scam artists attempt to make their victims feel rushed or make the matter sound urgent. For this reason, residents are told to take their time, gather as much information from the caller as possible, including a phone number, then research what the problem is that the caller has reported to them. If a resident can not find an answer online on their own, they are encouraged to contact the police department. 

If any residents are victims of fraud or encounter these types of attempts at identity theft, please contact the New Providence Police Department at (908) 665-1111.