State police at Frackville are alerting residents of a possible computer scam in the area. Troopers said a 66-year-old woman from Pottsville reported while using her computer, the computer began to alarm indicating that there was a computer virus. The error message informed the victim to phone a tech support number. The victim phoned the number and was guided through a virus removal process by an unknown suspect. The suspect then told the victim that the service would cost $400.

At the point the victim immediately hung up the phone and later called state police. The public is reminded to be aware of such computer scams in that criminals attempt to trick victims into calling and paying for services on their computers that are not required. This is tech support scam is commonly known as the “Microsoft Warning Alert,” troopers said.