My mom fell for a scam, lets make sure no one else falls for the same scam.

by pokethehippo

 

My mom called me tonight stating she was upset she had to pay $149.00 to activate her new Roku TV. She said she had to pay an invoice through PayPal. I immediately knew she had been scammed, but here is how they did it.

When activating the Roku TV, it tells you to go to a particular domain, and enter the code that appears on the TV. The scammers have a fraudulent website that looks like you are on the correct site using common misspellings of the domain. They then gather your account information and use it to gain access to your tv. When you enter the code on their website, it tells you to call a number on the screen to activate your account.

We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!

Now my mom has two other Roku devices, and I have used Roku since it came out. She knows that it doesn’t cost anything, but they caught her at 11 pm, after a few glasses of wine, and told her that because she was adding another device, she was over the limit for the free version and had to pay a one time fee to activate an additional device. It was late, and she wanted to relax and watch her new TV.

We have disputed the charge on Paypal, and my mom will call the bank first thing in the morning. Watch out for your parents and grandparents! My mom is very tech savvy for a 61-year-old lady. She has worked in the tech industry her entire life. She even thought that she should call me and ask, but she just wanted to relax and watch TV. We were lucky enough to have caught it.

 

Views:

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.