Tech Talk

Terrifying Tales of Scammers! by Bob the Computer Guy

By Bob Dalles & Nikki Dalles

Hello Friend! In case you didn’t know, October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so I’d like to start by telling you a story about a phone call my wife received. Over Labor Day weekend we received a phone call from “Officer Johnson” in the warrants and citations department of the county sheriff’s office. He used her full name and left a phone number for her to call back. Naturally, we were very suspicious of this message. We went to the sheriff’s office website, found the nonemergency phone number, and spoke with an officer there. When we explained the message we received, he advised my wife that this is a common phone call scam going around lately and that it was best to just ignore the phone call.

This incident got me thinking about how these scammers scare and intimidate their victims. It’s all psychological. These cybercriminals are preying on your fear. Whether they send you an email that your credit card was used to make an expensive purchase, a pop-up message on your screen telling you that your computer had a security breach, or “Officer Johnson” calling to discuss the warrant out for your arrest, they are hoping you’ll spring into action to resolve the issue quickly, and with as few questions, as possible.

The only way to combat this psychological attack on your sensitive information is by changing your behavior. That’s why my cybersecurity team and I have produced an informational guide for you to reference if one of these scammers tries to take advantage of your fears. In this guide we include information on the four types of scams that we get the most phone calls about. Our goal is to help you identify these different types of scams, so you don’t fall victim to them. And if you do get scammed, we give you the next steps to take to get you safe and secure.

There are four types of scams that we identify within the guide. The first scam we discuss is the email and text message scam. Email scams are incredibly common, but I’ve been getting more calls about text scams lately. When presented with these scams we always recommend reaching out to your trusted IT professional to check them out, but within our guide we give you a comprehensive check list to determine whether they are real or not.

The second type of scam we discuss is the phone call scam. Much like the email and text scam this is one of the most common scams that people experience. We recommend that you don’t answer any calls from phone numbers you don’t know. Unfortunately, many people do not know to ignore the call and get sucked in. If you do answer, or they leave a voicemail, our guide can help you figure out how to resolve any issues the caller might have mentioned.

The third scam we discuss is a bit scarier than the former two and is the one that folks tend to fall for the most: the pop-up scam. This type of scam truly plays on your fears and can happen to anyone while online with a simple click of your mouse. These types of scams tend to mimic true security warnings that your computer might show but, in our guide, we show what this type of scam might look like and provide a list of characteristics this scam might have. The final scam we discuss is less common than the rest but is the most detrimental to its victims: the sim card swap scam. A sim card is the device in your mobile phone that provides your cellular connection with your carrier. If scammers get enough of your personal information, they can impersonate you and get your phone number changed to another carrier, therefore stealing your phone number and any other information tied to that phone number. In our guide we give you the warning signs to watch for and what to do if this does happen to you, as well as how to help protect yourself from becoming a victim in the first place.

If you would like to get your hands on one of these FREE guides all you have to do is give us a call at 727534-4000 and we’ll get one sent to you. The next time you get a phone call, email, or pop-up message you can grab this guide to help keep you from becoming yet another cybercrime statistic.

Are you certain your computer is safe? You don’t have to do this alone my friend. My team and I are here to keep your computer safer and keep it running. My team repairs computers and secures them, on our bench, on-site in your home or office, and even remotely. We have the best solutions already in place and we’re only a phone call away. Call us anytime at

727-534-4000. We’ve been helping folks restore their peace of mind, and sanity, with their technology for decades.

We Keep You Safer In Your Digital World!