army judge
Super Moderator
- Jurisdiction
- Texas
GRIMES COUNTY, Tex. (KBTX) -- Joseph Rymer enjoys taking calls from phone scammers. The computer engineering major likes to waste their time. His mother, Jennifer, supports it.
"I feel like it is almost a service putting people in their place," said Jennifer. "Letting them know not everyone is going to fall for the scams."
Recently, Joseph got multiple calls from a new scammer that took him by surprise. The caller said they were with the computer company HP, and they owed him a refund after he was paying for a program that was no longer in service.
The only problem? Rymer doesn't own an HP computer.
"When they say they are with HP I take them with skepticism," said Joseph. "I know it isn't true. Unless I call HP and schedule it."
Rymer said he was promised hundreds of dollars in refunds. All he had to do was give them access to his computer through a program called Team Viewer.
"If you give them the option to allow remote control, they can immediately download items off of your computer and install them," he explained.
"They can do a lot of damage. They can steal a lot of files, your credit card numbers, even your saved passwords that you have in your browser," he explained.
The Rymers called HP to complain. They were told the company is aware of the situation, and their complaint would be put on file.
Joseph might not own an HP computer, but his mother does. She fears others have been fooled before and could be fooled in the future.
"Obviously, they fooled some people. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing this," said Jennifer. "They are learning, and they are progressing as they go."
The Grimes county sheriff's office said they haven't received complaints on scams like this one.
Phone scammers try to get access to family's computer over the phone
"I feel like it is almost a service putting people in their place," said Jennifer. "Letting them know not everyone is going to fall for the scams."
Recently, Joseph got multiple calls from a new scammer that took him by surprise. The caller said they were with the computer company HP, and they owed him a refund after he was paying for a program that was no longer in service.
The only problem? Rymer doesn't own an HP computer.
"When they say they are with HP I take them with skepticism," said Joseph. "I know it isn't true. Unless I call HP and schedule it."
Rymer said he was promised hundreds of dollars in refunds. All he had to do was give them access to his computer through a program called Team Viewer.
"If you give them the option to allow remote control, they can immediately download items off of your computer and install them," he explained.
"They can do a lot of damage. They can steal a lot of files, your credit card numbers, even your saved passwords that you have in your browser," he explained.
The Rymers called HP to complain. They were told the company is aware of the situation, and their complaint would be put on file.
Joseph might not own an HP computer, but his mother does. She fears others have been fooled before and could be fooled in the future.
"Obviously, they fooled some people. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing this," said Jennifer. "They are learning, and they are progressing as they go."
The Grimes county sheriff's office said they haven't received complaints on scams like this one.
Phone scammers try to get access to family's computer over the phone
