Some sound advice please for something dumb

[leon]

Hi Guys I received this notification in an email yesterday at 6.00am, telling me what is written below, and I don't have or used anything mentioned here, please advice on what i did at the bottom.



R.E.S.T.O.R.O.
GREETINGS.
Thanks for being valued coustomer. You have completed 1 year of association with us. Your computer service was expiring today. So we have charged you $399. 99 to your registered account. Your order is processed successfully and your subscription is renewed with immediate effect. This charge will show in your statement as "Firewall 365 services" within next 48 hours.
Invoice No: 4157-7638.
Service: 24x7 Pc Protection/ Wind0ws Def-ender.
Amount: USD 399.99.
Date: December, 20 2022.
UPGRADE/REFUND POLICY:
You have 48 hrs to call on the number below and upgrade / cancel the subscription and claim full refund against this payment.
HelpLine No: +61 3 9005 6943.
Regards.
Bruce Martin.
Account Manager.
RESTORO.


Anyway, I was concerned that my bank account was going to be hacked of sorts so I needed to find out what was going on.
I locked a few of the bigger accounts and then actually rang the helpline that was offered, probably a dumb idea
To cut a long story short he, Martin Bruce answered the phone and I asked what was going on and how could he offer a refund on something that hadn't been paid yet.

Just turn on your computer he said and I will send a form to complete and a refund will be immediate.
I refused and let him know this is probably a scam and I would deal with it.
He told me to get ****** and hung up.



So Have i compromised my Phone number and could my phone be tracked because i made that call.


Many thanks. Leon

[ronson]

Typical scam attempt… with typos. Got similar messages in the past. Seems some new scam service has become active. You did the right thing by refusing to do what they asked for. There won’t be any charge on your card, this was just stated to make you call them, so they can run the real scam then. They don’t really care about your phone number. Next time don’t even bother calling them, just delete the message and move on.

If you are worried about your accounts, keep an eye on them in the next few days, but I suspect nothing out of the ordinary will happen.

You can also try and report them at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ though I wouldn’t hold my breath anything will change.

[leon]

ronson, thank you so much, mate i am not a good internet knowable person, just ask RB, Andrew.
I don't have much but don't want to lose it to these pricks.

Leon

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by leon

ronson, thank you so much, mate i am not a good internet knowable person, just ask RB, Andrew.

Leon

Leon, you silly billy....
That was me... didn’t you recognise my voice?

[Drac0 (Mark)]

Funnily enough the real RESTORO charges a whole AU$55/year subscription fee, a bit short of the US$399.99 this mob were claiming. Good thing you didn't divulge any bank details or anything too them so you could "claim your refund".

Never respond to emails, follow links or use contact details in these types of emails - even ones claiming to be from your bank or a service you do use. If you are concerned, contact the company concerned via publically available sources, not what's contained in the email.

When they throw in things like "Wind0ws" with a zero or a hyphenated "Def-ender" be triple wary - and note that they don't address you by name as pretty much any company does now.

Cheers,
Mark

[leon]

Thank you Mark , look guys i do feel better, there is so much stuff out there and sometimes it dose worry me,

And for Andrew I will deal with him at a later date, I did know it was him, but just testing if he would revel himself

Leon

[Astrofire (Dale)]

I feel for you Leon. This sort of stuff is so annoying.

One of the key giveaways of these scams is they'll try and create a sense of urgency (e.g. expires today). This is always a red flag.

These emails usually have bad spelling and grammar, but the sophisticated ones don't.

One of the things you should always do when receiving this sort of email is hover the cursor over the sender's email address and see what the actual email account is. It's usually gonna be something non-sensical and not related to the business that's contacting you.

And, as I'm sure you already know, NEVER open any attachments or click any links.

I'm sure you'll be fine.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by leon

And for Andrew I will deal with him at a later date, I did know it was him, but just testing if he would revel himself

Leon

Ya got me Leon!!

btw, I was going to reply to the Autonomous Vehicle thread but I didn't want to upset Glen.

I was going to suggest that if you ever buy an Autonomous Vehicle, don't get one with "Windows".

[redbeard (Damien)]

Originally Posted by RB

Ya got me Leon!!

btw, I was going to reply to the Autonomous Vehicle thread but I didn't want to upset Glen.

I was going to suggest that if you ever buy an Autonomous Vehicle, don't get one with "Windows".

[redbeard (Damien)]

Don't worry Leon, they move on quickly to others once you don't buy in to their scams.

[leon]

Gees I hate you Andrew, you idiot , Na not really

And as for my decrepit Windows system where do I go, your no bloody good for advice, or help

Leon

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by leon

Gees I hate you Andrew, you idiot , Na not really

And as for my decrepit Windows system where do I go, your no bloody good for advice, or help

Leon

my friend

[Dennis]

Hi Leon

There are a few quick checks worth running through before taking any action. The default approach is DO NOT act – stop, and wait until you are calm and have time to think clearly.

• Be extremely suspicious if you're asked for money or your personal details. Never act on the impulse of fear, or that you must comply with the request.
• Organisations that I have a relationship with know my name and in all financial matters will always address the e-mail to me using my full name.
• Bone fide Organisations will not threaten you with any form of penalty if you do not respond within e.g. 48 hours. Scammers try to scare you into taking action. When you are scared, your biology diverts your biological resources to surviving the scare (running away from the tiger) and so you do not think straight and will often do irrational things that in a calm moment you would never do.
• Bone fide Organisations will never ask you for private, personal information such as account numbers, passwords, etc.
• Don't respond to phone calls or e-mails about your computer asking for remote access or follow a link to a website to fill out a form, download software, etc. even if they say they are from Microsoft, Optus, Tax Office, etc.
• Never send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone you don’t know or trust.

Print these example out and keep it by your PC.

Cheers

Dennis

[leon]

Excellent Dennis, thank you, I will keep what you said close at hand as i dose make sense.

Leon

[RAJAH235]

Leon,
Also be careful if you receive any kind of message from a "major" player, like
Microsoft, your bank, Amazon etc., etc., etc., but the URL ends with ..... "@gmail."

They will always use your full name as verification if legitimate.

As has been suggested, just hover the cursor over the email/URL to see exactly what it displays.