mmg.com.au

A Rushworth woman wants to warn others about a possible scam involving computer technicians claiming to be Microsoft contractors.

The woman, who did not want to be named, recently shared a photo of a hot air balloon on her laptop — after which about 60 random photos kept appearing on her laptop screen and she also had trouble accessing her Facebook account.

‘‘They weren’t rude (pictures) or anything, but they were annoying,’’ the woman said.

She then searched Google for Microsoft’s support line number in an effort to fix the problem.

The number she found and used was for a company based in New Delhi that claimed to be a contractor for Microsoft.

‘‘Microsoft don’t contract to anybody,’’ she said.

‘‘They (the New Delhi company) were in my computer and didn’t tell me who they were.

‘‘I feel they could be spying on me with what they have done.’’

The woman said the company charged her $189.99, which she is hoping to recover from her bank.

A Kyabram technician has since checked her laptop and found no problems.

‘‘(The New Delhi company) is probably okay, because the guy in Kyabram said there was nothing really wrong with what they did, but we don’t know the quality of the stuff,’’ the woman said. The woman encourages people to ask their internet provider for the phone number of Microsoft’s support line, instead of searching for it online.

Phone Consumer Affairs Victoria on 1300558181 or visit www.consumer.vic.gov.au for advice or to report a scam.