Several times each month we hear from clients who've lost over $10,000 in online scams. Scammers pose as representatives from well-known anti-virus companies, Microsoft/Apple, PayPal, Amazon, the bank fraud department, FBI or even government consumer protection agencies. They claim to need remote access to your computer or device to process a refund or fix a problem. As helpful and caring as they may sound, the scammers ultimate goal is to take your money - as much of it as they can.

The most common scam recently is the fake invoice or fake charge scam. You may receive an email, text or phone call stating that your "account" has just been charged hundreds of dollars for a product or service that you never ordered, and to reverse the charge you should call a phone number provided. If the number is called, a professional scammer will try to convince you to allow him/her to have remote access to your computer as they watch you log into your bank account to refund the supposed charge. In the process of "refunding the charge", a mistake happens and your are refunded too much money - then demanded to pay-back the difference in the form of wire transfers, cash withdrawals at your bank and transfers to Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

But if you follow the advice presented in our newsletters and website, you would never call an unsolicited phone number or allow someone that you don't know coerce you to do things on your computer which would allow them remote access. If in doubt, contact a trusted friend, family member or computer tech before making hasty decisions that involve your finances.

Your Complete Scam Resource

Recent data breaches by data brokers and others have exposed personally identifiable information (PII) that can be used to trick you into believing that you've been contacted by a friend, family member, financial institution or government official.

Read on for more information on how imposter scams work and how to protect yourself from being a victim.

Don't fall for imposter scams - here's what you need to know...

Most scams are easy to detect if you SLOW DOWN and carefully analyze the email or text message. Bad grammar, misspellings, bogus email addresses or international-formated phone numbers are common in most scams. Scammers also still call and leave voicemail messages too.

Don't get ripped-off. Please take a few moments to review the scam information that we post on our website - a resource you should review any time you may be considering acting upon an unsolicited email, text message or phone call. Click the button below to visit our website, and bookmark/favorite it for future easy access.

• Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. After this date, there will be no more free updates, security patches, or technical support.
• Most users have 3 options: upgrade to Windows 11, get a new computer with the latest version of Windows, or pay to extend Windows 10 security updates until October 2026.
• Upgrading to Windows 11 is recommended for most users for its advanced security, improved performance, and new features.

Read more, including how to tell what version of Windows is on your computer, and how we can help you this summer closer to the deadline ...

Watch our featured video on our YouTube playlist showing how a financial columnist fell for a phone scam and handed over her $50,000 life savings to a scammer. Click the video above, or view all of our recommended videos by clicking the button below, then subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified of future videos as soon as they are posted.

Since 2003 clients regularly ask us for a way to keep their computers secure and up-to-date, and not have to worry about the seemingly constant barrage of updates. With websites getting hacked on a daily basis, and the increasing chance of your personal information being lost or compromised, it's more important than ever to keep your computer up-to-date and maintained.

With the Computer Techs Maintenance Plan, we will maintain, update and check the security on your computer on a convenient quarterly schedule. Service can be performed via a Remote Support session which takes about an hour. Services include: