Computer fraudsters targeting the elderly

The scam itself is familiar, but fraudsters offering to fix a computer problem may now be deliberately targeting the elderly.

Te Runanga-a-Iwi o Ngati Kahu chief executive Anahera Herbert-Graves said last week that she had been very concerned to hear from several kaumatua that they had been targeted by people they now knew to be phone/online fraudsters.

Mrs Herbert-Graves, her husband and a friend who worked in the ICT field had all been contacted by elderly people seeking help after they had been persuaded to follow the fraudsters' instructions. All said that initially the fraudsters were friendly and persuasive, but then became increasingly demanding, even vicious.

"Unfortunately they are having some success, particularly with the elderly," she said.

"Their modus operandi is as follows. They will contact you on the telephone, and may even address you by name. They will tell you that your computer is at risk, and to follow some steps to safeguard your system. They will talk you through a number of steps to secure administrative access to your system by getting you to download and install some feature.

"This will not protect but will infect your computer, by turning over remote access to your computer and everything on it. They will get you to give them bank account details and credit card information to pay for a programme to protect your system. They will tell you that your computer will crash in 30 minutes if you do not do so. They may in fact crash your computer to convince you this is true.

"If you do not give them the bank details they will change your password and lock you out of your computer. In the meantime they will have downloaded all your contact details, and will do this to your friends. We now know three people this has happened to. In one case they lost their savings, and in two other instances they could not get back online because their passwords had been changed."

The police and now the local media had been notified, but the best protection was personal and public knowledge, and caution, Mrs Herbert-Graves added.

The main messages people need to get were to never give bank details, credit card details, ISP log-in names or passwords to anyone over the phone or online, and never, ever to download or click on anything that purported to repair, improve or protect a computer.