Stranger accesses home computer, spies on Utah County family


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ELK RIDGE, Utah County — If you have a computer with a camera on it, it could happen to you. Before you know what's going on, a stranger is peering inside your home.

It happened to Jennifer Bylund, a mother of two who lives in Elk Ridge. With a sparse population and wide open spaces, it's not exactly a crime-ridden community.

But Bylund discovered criminals don't always knock down doors to infiltrate our lives.

"I didn't know he could get in that easily. It's scary," she said.

As she sat in front of her computer monitor, with her children nearby, she watched in horror as a stranger turned on the camera and spied on her from her computer.

"He saw my kids, he saw my home," she said. "Yeah, I was shocked, I was shocked that somebody could actually do that."

"It's a blatant invasion of privacy is what that is. They're looking into your home," said FBI special agent James Lamadrid.

The FBI says there are thousands of similar complaints across the country.

"It's very simple, it's very straightforward; they want your money," he said.

Bylund was victimized by a tech support scam. She'd responded to a pop-up ad that warned about problems with her computer.

"Because I was paying my bills, it made me worried, so I gave them a call," she told KSL Investigator Debbie Dujanovic.


I allowed him to get on. All he needed was my email address, my birthday and my first and last name.

–Jennifer Bylund


Besides sending phony pop-ups, scammers call potential victims and pretend they've detected suspicious activity that must be addressed immediately. Concerned computer owners then often grant a scammer remote access to their computer, believing there is a problem that needs to be fixed.

"I allowed him to get on. All he needed was my email address, my birthday and my first and last name," said Bylund.

As victims watch the monitor, the FBI says scammers remotely access the computer and may do things that convince the victim there's a problem.

"They change the font from white to red, which is very simple to do, and everyone thinks red is bad so when you get that on a computer you think, 'Oh my goodness, something is wrong with my laptop,'" Lamadrid said.

The scammer will turn on the camera as a way to scare a victim to purchase bogus security software.

Bylund didn't fall for it, and after the man asked her for her credit card number to cover his $200 repair fee, she hung up. But by then the scammer had full access to her computer, including personal information, family photos, and the camera that was still on.

She turned off the computer and took it to a real computer expert to make sure it was safe to turn back on.

She doesn't know whether the scammer downloaded her personal information for later use, but she does have her family's privacy back.

"What world do we live in where people can actually look into our houses and see our families without our permission. It's really sad," she said.

Contacted by computer? File a complaint at IC3.gov.

Contacted by phone? File a complaint at FTC.gov.

Protecting your family

  • Don't click on suspicious links. This could download malware or lead to phony pop-up warnings of suspicious activity.
  • Don't share personal information, passwords or grant remote access to someone who contacts you out of the blue.
  • If you're concerned about someone gaining remote access to the camera on your computer, place a sticky note over the lens.
  • Keep anti-virus software updated.
  • Scan your computer for viruses. Helpful links: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0346-tech-support-scams

http://blogs.microsoft.com/cybertrust/2014/02/19/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-tech-support-scams/

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