Hacked
Edith Cook
Dear Friends and Readers,
My last newsletter mentioned scammers. They upset me so much, at a recent Community Choir practice, I lay down on the floor. I felt so dizzy, I thought I’d pass out. (A nurse once told me to lie down when I felt dizzy—it beats hurting myself by falling down.)
Two good Samaritans picked me up and escorted me to the bathroom. They stood by me as I disgorged my dinner, brought wet paper towels to cool my face, found a bottle of water to revive my spirits, and watched over me until I was able to rejoin the group. Later, a friend and neighbor, with whom I’d practiced our alto songlines, saw me safely home.
My stomach has been in turmoil ever since my word-processing system was disabled—by scammers, it turned out, who knew of my health problems and figured I was an easy target. They were right! If it hadn’t been for my honey’s warning, they would have conned me out of $21,000.
Every time I think about it, my stomach convulses. I made the mistake of eating before the singing practice, which I know not to do, but I wanted to quiet my stomach. Eating, however, only made things worse.
The scammer story was published two days ago. If you are interested in the details, see below.
I thank you for your forbearance and look forward to hearing from you now or in 2025.
Be well and cast a weather eye on smooth-talking telephone callers or texters; they may pretend to be your friendly Microsoft “expert,” your banker, your Social Security officer, your neighborhood cop, or even an FBI rep—see this story in the Washington Post concerning a retiree who lost her life savings to scammers:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/fbi-imposter-scam-victim-elder-fraud/?
Miss Edith
(Dr. Edith Cook)
Published December 3, 2024. Editor’s Headline: “Getting Hacked and Scammed.”
Have you been scammed? Has your computer been hacked, your credit card compromised, your checking account invaded? If so, you know how I feel.
Nowadays anyone can be a victim of scammers, since their methods are getting more sophisticated every day. Before they target an individual, they amass great amounts of information—from Facebook pages, social media posts and, in my case, the online articles and essays I’ve published.
Soon after I returned home from a Colorado hospital, I was typing away on an essay, minding my own business when, all at once, I could not move a single key. My Apple keyboard no longer obeyed me. I shut off the laptop and rebooted it—to no avail. I could work online, I discovered, but everyday word processing was out. The computer was barely four years old; this shouldn’t be happening.
I called Apple. In vain did Technical Support try to resolve the issue. Eventually they referred me to Microsoft where, again, I talked with Technical Support. They informed me that my Microsoft system may not be able to accommodate the upgrades to a more powerful Apple update and suggested I purchase the latest version of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point, which would be good for life.
I didn’t think a buying spree would resolve my problem and called my son who, four years earlier in California, had bought the laptop with me.
“That’s odd,” he said. “It sounds like you’ve been hacked. Yet what I know of Apple products, they are virtually immune to hackers and viruses.” He added it was possible I needed the new Microsoft version.
I bit the bullet and made the purchase, but the newer version on my laptop didn’t help. Over several days I sought help from Technical Support, alternating between Apple and Microsoft. I got nowhere.
At some point the Microsoft helpline blurbed that no technician would be able to help; I’d have to turn to its website. That’s when things really went wrong.
A prominent Microsoft website caught my eye. It displayed a telephone number offering help. Sure enough, when I called the number, a Microsoft “expert,” who introduced himself as Josh, answered with assurances he’d fix my computer problem. He asked me to allow him to screen-share, which I did. Then he said Microsoft was reimbursing the $160 I spent on the new system and instructed me to log on to my internet banking site to make sure the refund had arrived. I did as instructed, but the refund wasn’t there.
“No worries” he said. “Let’s first get rid of the virus that cripples your computer.” To this end, he asked me to leave my laptop and step into another room so the rays killing the virus would not harm me. I stepped to where my sweetie (and recent domestic partner) sat in his Barcolounger, working on Sudoku problems.
“I need to stay away from my computer for fifteen minutes,” I told him, not realizing I had not exited my banking site. Later my sweetie told me, having to leave my laptop raised his suspicions.
Meanwhile Josh kept me busy with housekeeping tasks. He dictated a registration number for an app he’ helped me install on my desktop. He said flattering things about my voice resonance. At the end of the 15-minute period, he said, to retrieve the refund, we’d have to start with a small amount, and he instructed me to type “$21” into the request line. Somehow, the typing was difficult, and suddenly appeared as an amount of $21,000.
“It’s a mistake,” said Josh. “It isn’t your fault, but you’ll have to reverse it.” He instructed me to return to internet banking to ascertain that the 21 grand had showed up in my checking account. Indeed, an extra $21,000 had taken up residence there. Josh proceeded to instruct me how to return the money to the Microsoft account from which it had accidentally slipped into mine.
At this, my sweetie, who’d recently become my domestic partner, switched to high alert. He seated himself close to me and, alarmed over the “reimbursement” talk of $21,000, signaled that I needed to stop the phone call.
Confused, I said into the telephone, “I don’t think my banker will allow me to transfer so large an amount in one fell swoop. I’ll have to do it in increments. I need to call my bank.” I hung up on Josh and dialed my bank, convinced I owed 21 grand to Microsoft and needed to figure out how to refund it.
The banking assistant enlightened me in short order. The extra money had come from my own accounts—$10,000 from a credit card, another $11,000 from a line of credit. I was stunned, speechless for the moment. How could I have been so gullible, so easily fooled? Suddenly I saw warning signs I’d ignored. Josh had guided me down a primrose path and I’d skipped along, trusting he was resolving my Microsoft issues (which the scammers themselves had procured).
Now I’m dealing with my bank’s fraud department, which is a nightmare all its own. The bank moved swiftly to lock my assets, which is good because no scammer can access them, but it’s no good because I can’t use any of my money. It’s the beginning of the month, with payments due for utilities, mortgage obligations, and other recurring charges. True, the bank issued me a new account, but I can’t log on until the old account is closed. Due to the Thanksgiving holidays, the bank had not done anything beyond the lockup.
In between I had to find a computer expert to help me restore my word-processing capability. A few years ago, an Apple store had opened in Cheyenne, but it closed during COVID-19. Before that I used the Mac Shack in Fort Collins, Colorado, but it, too, had closed. Not long ago I consulted an outfit in Laramie only to leave disappointed. Finally a computer repair shop in Loveland, Colorado, impressed me as reputable. What was needed, said the owner, was to save everything important that’s on my hard drive—photos, files, the new Microsoft system—then clean the hard drive and re-install the saved items. He could do it in an hour, he said, if I would come in this morning.
It was the day before Thanksgiving, and it snowed. Since I no longer live near the Colorado state line, I could not make the trip. He said I could do the job myself. “Follow the videos on Youtube,” he advised. It took me some trials and errors, but within a day I restored my laptop to its prior capability.
Luckily, my partner and sweetie smelled a rat even though I did not. He kept me from making a $21,000 mistake. On my own I might not have doubted the “expert” on the telephone.
In an email to Microsoft, I detailed my saga and was assured they’d pursue the lead. A few days later they emailed that the case was closed. So much for reining in scammers and the damage they wreak.
Nancy Ford
Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2024 9:18:52 AM
To: edith-cook <edith...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [edith-cook] Hacked
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