FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, Aug. 26, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Melrose Police Warn Residents of Prevalent Computer Scam

MELROSE — Chief Michael L. Lyle and the Melrose Police Department would like to warn residents about a prevalent computer scam and advise community members to never wire money to anyone they do not know.

On Aug. 25, a resident reported that she received multiple calls from a scammer pretending to be a Microsoft support “engineer” who was alerted that her computer had a virus and needed to be fixed.

In these situations, scammers then charge callers hundreds of dollars to “repair” the issue with the computer. Any money that is sent to these con artists is often lost and gone forever.

“Microsoft will never reach out to you and claim there is an issue with your computer that needs to be repaired,” Chief Lyle said. “Never give out personal information to these callers, or wire money to them, no matter how convincing they may seem. Immediately hang up and call police.”

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