Nobody legitimate calls you about your computer. Not Microsoft, not Apple, not Norton, not your bank's fraud department, not Amazon, not the IRS. If the phone rings and someone says there's a problem with your computer, your account, or your refund, it's a scam. Every time. Hang up. Don't call the number back, even if it looks local.
What they want. Three things, in this order: to get onto your computer, to get you to a store for gift cards, or to get you to move money "somewhere safe." They are patient, polite, and good at it. Smart people fall for this every day. There's no shame in it, only in staying quiet afterward.
If you already let them connect. Turn the computer off. Not asleep, off. Call me at (803) 265-8088. Then call your bank, using the number on the back of your card, and tell them what happened. Change your email password from a different device, like your phone. I'll go through the computer, remove whatever they installed, and tell you plainly what they could and couldn't have seen.
What I will never do. I will never call you out of the blue about your computer. I will never ask for gift cards. I will never ask your parent for a card number if you're the one who hired me. If anyone claiming to be me does any of those things, it isn't me.
No. That information is bought and sold. Knowing your name proves nothing. A real company would never need you to do anything right now on the phone.
That screen is a normal Windows tool that lists ordinary events. Every computer on earth shows those. It's the oldest trick they have.
Stop. Don't read them anything. Hang up. The cards are still yours. Then call me and we'll talk through the rest.
Email first, from a device they didn't touch. Then banking. I'll help you do the rest in order once I've seen the computer, and I'll show you how to use a password manager so this is the last time.
Call (803) 265-8088. If I'm under someone's desk, leave a message and I'll call you back the same day.
$175 remote or $275 at your house, up to two hours. Card when it's done.
Other things I fix: Slow computer, Virus and scam popups, Printer problems, Wi-Fi and internet, Email, New computer setup, Backup and lost files, Help for your parents, What it costs.