Crime & Safety
Cops: Phone Scam's Goal May Be Identity Theft
Two town residents were recently asked by callers to give over sensitive information about their home computers, which Darien police fear may be sought in order to commit identity theft.
Darien police are warning town residents to be on guard against phone callers who tell them their home computers have been taken over by an Internet virus.
The callers then ask for sensitive information about their home computer networks.
"This activity is fraudulent in nature, and is solely intended to conduct malicious activity, possibly identity theft," police wrote in emailed and online warning to town residents.
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"Recently, two Darien residents were contacted by phone, with the caller ID listed as "McGraw Hill" and a phone number listed as '212-438-7895'," town police said in the warning notice, which was emailed and posted online at 8:56 p.m. Monday.
"The caller informs the resident that his/her home computer has been compromised and is spreading a computer virus throughout the neighborhood."
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Residents should not give out information about their computers to these callers, police said.
"The phone number has been 'spoofed', as a way to mask the caller's true phone number," police said in the warning. The corporate security office of McGraw Hill knows about the incidents, police said.
If you get a call like this, Darien police suggest you file a complaint with the FCC at http://www.fcc.gov/complaints.
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