My mom, 77, calls me up this morning telling me she is on the other line with Telus. She said they called her to warn her there is something wrong with her firewall. They ask her for some information. She tells me that they are in her computer fixing it. “Telus” is coming in to her computer to fix a firewall issue.
She doesn’t use Telus for internet.
I tell her to hang up with “Telus” and unplug the power to her computer immediately. Then I tell her to go to the bank and make sure everything is secure and to have her bank help her change her password.
I just upgraded her computer to Windows 11 with all the latest security updates so I feel they could not have hacked in if she didn’t allow them in, which she did. I asked her if she had to click on any prompt to allow the fraudster access to her computer. She said yes, she did.
This is called “social hacking”.
There was no suspicious activity in her bank account, assuming that’s the first place a fraudster would go, to her saved passwords on her banking websites.
I think my mom had learned a lesson. I feel her PC is safe but is she safe from social hacking?
I’m thankful my dad, 87, has never had a phone and his laptop is not connected to the internet with one card game that he absolutely loves. I think he would be an easy target for fraudsters.
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