{"id":69333,"date":"2017-11-01T22:01:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T04:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/attorney-general-warns-of-tech-support-scam\/"},"modified":"2017-11-02T04:01:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-02T04:01:01","slug":"attorney-general-warns-of-tech-support-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/attorney-general-warns-of-tech-support-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney general warns of tech-support scam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=504d5f9f-2241-410d-a7db-d99a9e710ce5&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" alt=\"\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman recently alerted Colorado residents of fraudulent telephone calls for technical support that identifies the caller as \u201cColorado State Gov\u2019t\u201d with the phone number (800) 222-4444.<\/p>\n<p>The caller will offer to help remove a virus from the resident\u2019s computer, or leave a message that asks the resident to visit a website or call a number for assistance. The scam hopes residents unintentionally allow access to computers, where tracking software can be secretly installed to steal personal and financial information, including passwords and online accounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese phone calls are obviously false,\u201d Coffman said in a news release. \u201cNo one in state government knows whether your computer is affected by a virus, and we certainly aren\u2019t going to call you to get you to pay us to fix your computer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tips to avoid tech-support scams include:<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Know what to look for and be aware of how fraudulent calls, emails and computer messages from strangers appear. Major computer and software companies, including anti-virus and computer security software companies, do not keep a record of, and have no way of knowing, that a particular computer is infected with a virus. Legitimate companies will send notices or updates when there is a threat to its market customers.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Legitimate companies never call without warning or send pop-up messages that claim a virus or problem with a personal computer has been detected.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Residents should hang up immediately if the caller offers technical support or claims a personal computer has been hacked or infected with a virus in some way. Do not respond, and delete pop-up messages immediately.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Never allow a stranger remote access to a computer for any reason.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Contact the computer manufacturer directly if an actual virus or problem is suspected to exist.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Ensure computer security software is installed, updated and active, and the device\u2019s firewall and pop-up blocker is turned on to prevent intrusions.<\/em><em class=\"mwc_body_bullet\">Research local computer-service companies, rated by agencies such as Better Business Bureau, if without a regular contact.<\/em>To report a scam, call 1-800-222-4444 or visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stopfraudcolorado.gov\/about-consumer-protection\/report-fraud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.stopfraudcolorado.gov\/about-consumer-protection\/report-fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em class=\"mwc_shirttail\"><a href=\"mailto:fstone@durangoherald.com\">fstone@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado residents should report fraudulent calls, messages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,13,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-69333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69333"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=69333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}