A tip from ‘Harry Truman’: Buck surprise emails that seek ways into your wallet

Continued from page 13 he and I would partner in the recovery of the $578.

As expected, Alex became irritated when I began asking questions regarding the need for him to access my computer, rather than authorize a refund. Alex became agitated and to be fair, he was an easy target.

We bickered while he tried every angle to convince me to load the remote-access program.

Finally, “Alex, I’d like to speak to your supervisor.”

“Hold.”

A few seconds later, another person not from around here came on the phone.

“Hello, my name is Nick Johnson, may I help you?”

“Hi Nick, where are you from?”

“Mr. Truman, we are trying to help you recover your money, but we need to do it from this end and so we need to load this program. It is completely safe.” (Blah, blah, blah.)

I must admit that Nick had a smooth routine and delivery of information meant to convince the intended victim that this was legit. I also think that in the back of his or her mind, the target usually wants to believe him because that $578 hit in the bank account looms large. He went on to say, “Just give us the access to help you get your money back.”

Eventually, I ran out of dialogue because I had no intention of granting access to load the program. Remember that anything designed to access your computer remotely, suggested from an unsolicited email, is bad mojo.

What this scam does, if you download the program they are pushing, is give your information to Alex and he tells you he needs your bank information to set the refund. Quite frankly, once you allowed the remote access, you’re most likely browbeaten enough to surrender the bank number. They access it, show you a screenshot of your bank statement and the refund is right there! On paper that is.

The next step is they admit that they have accidentally forwarded money from their Square account onto your account and they need you to refund that amount to them. To do that, they will text you a link and once you click on “yes,” thinking you’re refunding that small amount to them, they have your account access, and drain it.

So, the whole thing is to get that account number, fake a refund statement on it, and then convince you they need their money back.

If you don’t have PayPal or Square, or any other moneytransfer app, and you get this email, obviously don’t engage with them. If you do have an account and you need to verify the information, go to the legitimate source and start there. The scammers cannot do anything they want to do without your bank account information. Do your investigation independently outside of the email information.

I finally asked Nick how much time we had spent on the call -- by my account, a half hour -- and then told him I wanted to make a complaint about Alex Watson’s demeanor, so please transfer me to the human resources department. He hung up.

Be safe and smart, Your friend, Harry Truman