Scammers installed Ultraviewer which scanned my computer. What should I do?

Question

I had a call from a California phone number (213) 766-4357 to my cell phone yesterday, January 8, 2021 at approximately 5:18 pm.

I was informed by the caller, a male foreigner who spoke English, that he was calling from Apple Support and that my IP addressed was being used in NewYork and they wanted to catch the Scammer if I would help them to do so.  They requested that I get on my computer, laptop, and instructed me to go to Ultraviewer and download it on my computer.  While doing so, I asked how I knew they were legit.  He said he would transfer me to his immediate Supervisor.   A lady with a foreign voice spoke to me with more clear English, she said her name was Scarlett Collins and it showed as an Apple Security Officer on the screen, APL 0008756634 AND Employee ID ASD7531642.

The Screen showed a tracer directing them to Dayton Ohio, Latitude 39.678622 and Longitude of 83.927339.  In the meantime, I could see the word:

Encrypted and it looked like it was scanning my computer.  I questioned her again about what was going on and she explained they were trying to keep my IP address from being stolen and that their were 78 foreign addresses that had connected to my IP address.

I hung up the phone after she said I would need to pay $500 and it would be reimbursed by Apple, which also showed up on the screen.  I told her I was not paying anything and hung up the phone.  I immediately received another phone call but did not answer it.

I am 67 years old and can not believe that I allowed them access to my computer files.  Today, I uninstalled the Ultraviewer app from my computer and ran a virus scan.  It showed 45 files that could not be opened.

Please advise what I should do now to insure my computer is safe.

Thanks, 

* Moved from Windows 10

* Original title: Scammed, please help.

Answer 1

Hi PhyllisCowart,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

Tech support scams are an industry-wide issue where scammers use scare tactics to trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services that supposedly fix contrived device, platform, or software problems, however you can****Report a technical support scam here.

Scammers may call you directly on your phone and pretend to be representatives of a software company. They can then ask you to install applications that give them remote access to your device.

Microsoft takes its commitments seriously to protect and maintain the privacy of its customer’s data, and to empower its customers to implement and use its services in a protected manner. If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be from Microsoft and believe it was a scam, you can help us stop these fraudsters by using the form to report all the information regarding your interaction with them.

Meanwhile, you may want to refer to the article on how to Keep your computer secure at home.

 However, let me also provide some useful information which might help you.

• Tech support scams
• Keep your computer secure at home
• Protect yourself from tech support scams
• Protect yourself from phishing

Hope it helps.

Answer 2

I have been getting these calls regularly, but the one thing to always remember is to think that everyone is a crook and that they are out to steal what is yours. I usually just play along with them for a while but don't really input any information into my computer. I act as though I am a feeble old woman, which I am and I make them repeat themselves many times. With me it's about my amazon account. I don't ever allow anyone access to my computer because I pay all of my bills and do my banking from it. This would give someone else access to all of that information. You will probably have to take it to somewhere like Best Buy (they are a trusted company) and have them work their magic on it to remove all possibilities of anyone getting in. I figure that when I keep them on the line for a while they are leaving someone else alone. In the future just think that someone is out there and out to steal from you, they really are and it's only going to get worse from now on.

Good luck with your situation and in the future try having a little fun with it.

Answer 3

my computer screen just froze with a window indicated my computers and cell phones have been hacked,   i needed to call this number  1888 906 0474

i called and the person explained my computers, cell phone and wi fi has been hacked.    he said he needed to completely install new software on my computers.

he then directed me to the ultrview.net   

he then said to download the software,    I asked if my wi fi was hacked shouldn't i contact my wi fi provider.    

he said no that they are just the supplier, 

i then began to question him on how do i know you are from micro soft,   he directed me to google micro soft helpline number and micro soft came up and the number is  1 800 642 7676   

he said he would call me back on this line,  which he did.  

i told him still not comfortable,  he said just call back later.   

is this a scam??

Answer 4

If you get a call like that or it says call 1-800-ur-mom or something, open a free vitual machine program (pc emulator like virtual box) download teamviewer/ultraviewer on the virtual machine and control the scammers pc

Answer 5

I had a problem with accessing my Netgear router bookmark.  It would redirect me when I used routerlogin.net, routerlogin.com home/services.  The problem was the URL address was changed from 192.168.0.1 to a scammer URL 192.168.1.1. Make note of your Default Gateway URL address as your router.