The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office would like to warn the public of yet another phone scam to circulate our area. In this version, the caller identifies himself as a “Microsoft Windows Technician”.

The caller explains the reason for the call is to diagnose error messages contained within your computer. Next he asks you to write down a series of computer identification numbers which are essentially your internet protocol and remote access addresses. The caller asks that you not provide those numbers to him, as he walks you through the process of discovering “Error Messages” in the Event Viewer. Once this is completed, the caller says he can fix the “Errors,” if you provide the computer identification numbers.

By providing the information sought by the caller, in most cases, you have allowed complete access of all data stored within the computer.

When receiving an unsolicited phone call, we recommend you do not provide personal information to the caller.