Train Wreck at the Office

When I received an email about an invoice for a subscription renewal, I considered the amount and whether to keep the product.

When I asked Mike and Kevin whether we really need the Norton service for our computers, Mike suggested I ask Casey (our computer Guru) before cancelling anything.

When Casey said, since we have Microsoft 365 and One Drive, I could go without any additional security program, I decided to just cancel it.

When I responded to the renewal invoice, the email bounced back as 'undeliverable'.

When I called the 1.800 # to cancel the subscription, the guy who answered the call gave me instructions to go to a website.

When the website loaded, it was a blank screen with a blank space next to a button that said 'JOIN'.

When the guy on the phone gave me a code to enter, he stammered and then said "SH*T".

When I asked him if everything was ok, I had assumed he was working from home (like half of the world) and maybe he needed a personal minute.

When he finished giving me the code, I asked him why the screen was asking me to download something.

When he said this was the only way to access the cancelation page, I started to get suspicious.

When the 'REFUND' screen showed up, he asked that I fill in the blanks and NOT to repeat my answers to him.

When I scrolled down the page and noticed the questions were my name, address, bank name and bank account #, I asked him to hold and then I hung up on him.

When I frantically called Casey back to tell him that my screen was frozen, my heart was racing and I realized that I had been hacked.

When Casey advised me to do a hard shut down, he also said I should take my computer to get wiped clean and notify my bank.

When I got to Best Buy, the Geek Squad took pity on me and let me wait for the next available agent (even though they normally work by appointment only).

When I admitted to my stupidity and the train wreck of a mess I made for myself at the office, the gentleman said "you're not the first and you won't be the last".

****HARD LESSON LEARNED - LOOKING BACK ON THE ORGINAL EMAIL, IT DID NOT HAVE A LEGITIMATE BUSSINESS NAME. I SAW THE WORD 'NORTON' AND 'RENEWAL SUPSCRIPTION' AND I ASSUMED IT WAS NORTON ANTI-VIRUS EVEN THOUGH IT DID NOT SAY THAT! ALSO, WHEN I CALLED THE 1.800 NUMBER AND I SAID I WANTED TO CANCEL MY NORTON SUBSCRIPTION, THE GUY DIDN'T ASK MY NAME, OUR MY INVOICE # OR MY NORTON ACCOUNT #. I KNOW BETTER AND YET I FELL FACE FIRST INTO THIS SCAM, LOST 3 HOURS OF MY DAY AND I'M SO EMBARASSED. BE WARNED AND BE CAREFUL - PEOPLE BE HACKING!!!****