By Diane Lee (WSPA)

(GAFFNEY, SC)

Scammers have found a new way to make you fall for the “tech support” scam. They are targeting your phone.

For the first time in our area we are hearing from a local victim whose phone was hacked. She shared her story so you don’t get scammed.

The other night Brenda Green was on her Facebook app when she says her cell phone screen turned white. A pop-up said her phone was being hacked and gave her a tech support number.

“I tried to get rid of it, you know, I clicked twice. It wouldn’t go away. And I think if I wasn’t tired I wouldn’t have done this, but I called the number and he said, my name’s Alex and I’m a technician and I’ll get that off your phone if you go hook up to the computer,” she said.

She connected the phone, and he tried to charger her $200 to unlock her cell. She wouldn’t pay.

“And he said well your phone’s clear now so you can go, have a nice day, and I guess he thought I went off the computer but I didn’t,” said Green.

He already had what he wanted: access to her computer. She watched long enough to see him try out passwords, even go on what she believes is his Facebook account. She called back.

“I said you stole my computer didn’t you. And he said “yep.”

We asked Luke Vanwingerden, the IT Director at USC Upstate how hackers can gain access to phones.

“Well it might be clicking on a link, it could be pop-ups. It could be sites you’ve visited a while ago and it’s now coming up on your phone, so there’s many ways you can get to it,” he said.

Once Green gets the personal files off her computer, an expert has advised her not to use it again because the scammers likely still have the IP Address. She’s also in the process of getting a new phone.

Plus she’s had to change all her financial accounts, and notify the credit bureaus.

‘I just hate to see anybody go through this. I’ve still not got everything done I got to do, and I’ve been doing it for 3 days,” she said.

If you are ever hacked be sure to:

1) Contact your bank, retirement accounts and credit card company.

2) Call the 3 major Credit Reporting Bureaus to set up a fraud alert.