A scammer stole £4,000 from me after convincing me I was in danger
A scammer stole £4,000 from me after convincing me I was in danger
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Staring at my blank computer screen, I waited anxiously for it to come back to life. Around 45 minutes earlier I’d had a phone call from someone to say that my PC was compromised and that I needed to act urgently. Not being the most tech-savvy person, I believed the caller and allowed them to take control of my computer. And then the screen went dark.
![[Harold Richardson: I was scammed out of ?4,000 by one phone call]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_236316546-b1c1-e1737135536527.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
She assured me this was a normal part of the process while they installed a protection plan on my system and I didn’t think I had any reason not to trust her. Sure enough, my computer soon came back on and everything looked as it was. She even gave me a number to call if I had further issues.
![[A woman's hands on a dimly lit laptop keyboard]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2185921847-76ba.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
But it was only after I checked my bank accounts later that same day that I realised I did in fact have one gigantic issue – she’d stolen £4,000 from me. It was July 2023, and I’d been checking my emails on my phone when I got a call from a number I didn’t recognise.
‘Hello, I’m phoning you from Microsoft,’ came the professional and friendly voice at the other end of the phone. Then she explained that my computer was riddled with malware. ‘You need to act urgently to stop it before it’s too late,’ she said.
I’m not confident when it comes to technology and, as a result, I’ve always been incredibly worried about the security of my computer, so I continued to stay on the line. I recall her being very calm while offering her assistance, so when she told me to log on to my computer I did as she instructed.
