Charbonneau Villager February 2026 11
EPPS
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that the scammer will hang up.
Another phone call scam is a“ cold call” from someone who says they are from Microsoft / Google / Amazon, or even from the local sheriff’ s department, the IRS or Social Security Administration( SSA). What to do: Nothing: simply hang up. You can block the number, but they often use rotating phone numbers. Regardless, never engage them. The main thing to remember is that none of these entities will ever call you on the phone. If they identify themselves as working for Microsoft, Google, Amazon, the IRS or the SSA, it is always a scam. Email-based scams The most common one appears to be from Comcast / Xfinity, cautioning about missing payments or email system changes, and offering you a link to log in to your account and fix the“ problem.” This is how comcast. net email accounts get compromised, leading to the next situation below. What to do: Delete or ignore the email. If you think it might be legitimate, then log in to your account and check on it, but NEVER EVER click the link that is offered in the email.
Another one that is seen occasionally is an email that appears to be from a friend, asking you to purchase something on their behalf, such as an Amazon gift card. What to do: If you aren’ t sure whether it is legitimate, simply call your friend to ask if they sent such an email. Scammers can“ fake” email addresses, but sometimes your friend’ s email has actually been hacked by the technique above, and they are using their list of contacts to send out their request for money or gift cards( which, once purchased, are essentially cash – you will never get your money back).
Equally common is an email invoice for unauthorized charges, often for Norton AntiVirus, Bitcoin or Geek Squad. What to do: As above, NEVER EVER click on the provided links or call the provided phone number. Delete the email and if you are curious, go directly to your bank, credit card, PayPal, etc. to verify. The provided links or phone numbers are NOT legitimate.
Finally, you may receive an email that appears to be from Apple or Amazon( or, again, even the IRS or Social Security Administration) that says there has been suspicious activity or charges on your account and provides a link to“ validate your account information.” What to do: NEVER EVER click on the provided link or call the phone number – these links and phone numbers are NOT legitimate. Simply delete the email. If it is from Amazon or Apple, log in to your account and see for yourself if there has been any unusual activity. Pop-up screen on your computer This usually happens while you are browsing the web on your computer. A warning will pop up, monopolizing your screen, saying that you have a virus, or some other serious problem, and should call“ Microsoft” at the displayed phone number. There may also be an audio recording that plays repeatedly. What to do: Ignore it and dismiss the web page if you can. Rebooting your computer will often clear it, but if it reappears, the best solution is to reset your browser. Depending on which browser you use, these steps differ, so it’ s beyond the scope of this article to describe the steps. But you can search for“ reset ______ browser”, filling in the name of your browser. The most common ones are Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox. Each of these browsers have steps in settings to perform this reset.
I’ m sure that you have seen at least one of these kinds of scams, and hopefully you’ ve managed to avoid getting separated from your money. If you have questions or need help, don’ t hesitate to contact me via email at jim @ teaguetech. com, or by phone at 425.246.8236.
Jim is a Charbonneau resident with over 30 years in the technology industry, most recently at Microsoft, and has a master’ s degree in computer science. Jim has been helping folks with their technology challenges since he moved here from the Seattle area in 2020.
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