CCR Ltd

21/10/2019

Please see this report on the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50117796. It describes some of the most prevalent computer scams that continue to cause a nuisance and actually extract money from vulnerable users. You may think that you would not fall foul of such attacks but I know many of my own customers who have suffered financial loss as a result of these sophisticated scams. In the time between reading this piece and typing this to post online I received a call from “Virgin Media” regarding my internet connection. You guessed it: I do not have Virgin Internet. The caller was from India.

As it states in the BBC article, Microsoft will never call you and neither will your internet provider. They are paid whether your internet works or not. They do not have the resources to proactively call you to report a fault on your line.

Please be careful and be aware. Never allow anyone access to your computer unless you know them personally.

Indian police shut two call centres and arrest seven people suspected of involvement in the scam.

20/04/2019

It is that time of year again when people expect and receive Tax Rebates. The scammers will be out in force trying to convince you that HMRC have issued a tax rebate to you and that all you have to do is click on the link and provide a few details to have it paid directly into your bank account. Don’t be fooled – however convincing the linked website may seem HMRC will never ask for your bank details via email or text. There is a very good article on the BBC about this which I recommend you read: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47988270. The article concentrates on text messages but the same holds true for email scams as well – in fact they can often be even more convincing!
According to the Hiscox Insurance radio advert you are 40% more likely to suffer a cyber attack than be physically burgled. Hardly a day goes by when I do not receive either a phone call from a worried customer or have a suspicious email forwarded to me. It is very rare for the contact to be genuine. The scammers are becoming ever more professional. It is rare today to receive an email or text full of grammatical errors and/or typos which used to be a give-away that the message was a scam. Even I have fallen for an eBay “negative feedback” scam although fortunately I realised very quickly and changed my password.
Please be very aware.

Fraudsters send fake messages during the tax rebate period, the government warns.

09/03/2018

Having just received a scam phone call from “Sky” offering me a £202 refund (I don’t have Sky and never have) I was reminded of a recent scam that was successful that I wanted to warn everyone about.

One of my customers received a phone call from BT about his poor broadband performance. He told them he wasn’t with BT but they then said they were calling from Open Reach and claimed to be responsible for the quality provision of his service. He has suffered poor broadband for a while (who hasn’t?) and, despite being a very intelligent man allowed the caller (Indian) remote access to his PC. They spent around 4 hours “fixing things” and then offered a refund for the poor service he had suffered. Being concerned about banking fraud he did not have internet banking setup but they convinced him to setup an online account so they could deposit his refund. They then proceeded to steal money from three of his bank accounts over the next 24 hours. I removed the remote access software from his PC that was still active and could have allowed them future access!
Please NEVER allow anyone who calls you unexpectedly remote access to your computer. Your broadband service provider, and certainly Open Reach, will NEVER call you to correct a fault you have not reported. If someone wants to access your computer remotely, hang up the call immediately and switch off your computer.

If a company wants to offer you a refund tell them to send a cheque or credit it to the account from which you currently pay them.

28/06/2017

Four people in the U.K. have been arrested in relation to the Microsoft Scam. You can read more about it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40430048. We have a post below warning everyone about such scams. Stay safe and call us if you have any concerns.

Two men and two women are arrested after a probe into an IT support scam.

26/01/2017

The Raspberry Pi is a versatile and innovative little piece of hardware which, with a little imagination, can be applied to almost anything computer technology related.

From a standard mini word processor, to a retro gaming machine and all the way up to a scientific instrument. The Pi along with its peripherals makes for an excellent project for both the experienced and novice computer wizard.

Easy setup allows for anyone to have a go, and at its reasonable price point for a starter kit would make an excellent gift.

If you want to learn coding, have a house project that just needs a little extra awesome, or just want to have some fun, the Raspberry Pi could very well be the mini computer you've been looking for.

For more details please use our Contact Us button or call on 0208 688 0844

11/01/2017

In recent weeks we have received a flurry of calls from customers regarding cold calls from Microsoft or their Broadband provider and a number of suspected virus pop-ups on their PC’s. These are scams and should be ignored. If in doubt please feel free to contact us. Please do not fall into their trap. Here we hope to explain a little about what they do and why.

The calls usually follow a certain pattern where the caller will tell you they are either calling from Microsoft or “Your Broadband Provider” telling you that there are problems with your computer(s). This is important. To start with Microsoft would never call a customer out of the blue and state that they know there are problems with your computer. Microsoft only ever return calls on active cases that have been processed and logged via their help desk. As soon as you hear this, hang up. Alternatively the caller says they are calling from your broadband provider. Note that they will never say who the provider is, just that they are calling from your provider. Again, in this situation hang up. Both of these cases are examples of telephone scams. In each case, if taken further, the caller will talk you through setting up a remote session on your computer. In doing so they will now have full access to your machine and all your files. They will then proceed to run a few freeware programs to delete temporary files and then charge anywhere between £200 and £350. If payment is refused we have had cases of callers changing or adding passwords to machines thus blocking your access to your own equipment.

Another case of a scam, this time online, is that of the urgent “Virus Alert”. Usually it will pop up on websites in bright bold colours warning you that there is a dangerous virus on your computer that must be dealt with immediately, and to do so call this 0800 number. Occasionally they’ll even have a price listed, nearly always in dollars and somewhere around the $20-30 mark. They will claim that if you pay that price all your problems will be solved. This is untrue and simply a means to gain your credit card details which will be used at a later date to siphon funds from your account. It is best to ignore the pop up closing it, or the web browser, if possible. It is very unlikely that your machine has been infected with a virus and that this is simply a pop-up. However, to be safe you should run a full virus scan on the PC or laptop concerned. You can call us for assistance if you are unsure of how to do this.

In both cases the scammers may be after credit card details and other personal information. Once someone has remote software on your PC they can access it whenever they like, checking your files for information or planting data mining viruses to spread onto others. It is always best to stop, think, and hang up the phone or close the computer. Acting rashly could result in financial loss or identity theft.

If you are in any doubt please call us on 020 8688 0844. We are more than happy to talk you through any issues you may have and put your mind at ease. A remote session by CCR will cost substantially less than any of the scams mentioned above.

10/01/2017

We can install your structured cabling requirements running CAT5 cabling in trunking to wall mounted data points from a patch panel with network switch and 19″ housing cabinet. This is suitable for both computer data networks and modern phone systems.

If you need to extend your wireless range due to black spots around your house, office or building we can install and supply network plugs that will extend your network over the electrical ring main. This is cheaper and more flexible than running cables around large areas and less intrusive for home users.

05/01/2017

Through our association with Fasthosts, one of the UK’s largest domain hosting companies, we are able to offer a domain name registration and hosting service that removes the worry from you in this sometimes complicated area. We can search for available domain names that fit your business or organisation, register the domain and provide website and email hosting services. We will automatically renew your registration when it becomes due. In short, we take all of the hassle out of owning your own domain name.

We are also able to offer a website design service at very competitive rates which start at only £100.00 + VAT. We develop in both WordPress and Serif, dependent upon the requirements.

04/01/2017

Probably our most important service is the on going, day to day support that we provide for our many business and domestic customers. It is so reassuring for our customers to know that we will be at the end of the phone able to offer immediate advice and, if required, remote support and/or a visit to site to resolve both the niggling and critical problems that always happen at the worst possible time. We recognise and appreciate that sometimes even the most innocuous problem can affect your day and requires immediate attention.

04/01/2017

We can build a PC to your specific requirements. Our current workstation spec includes: Tower Case, AMD Quad Core 3.8GHz CPU, 16Gb DDR3 RAM, 240Gb Solid State Drive (SSD), DVD-RW, Windows 7 Professional or Windows 10 Professional for a price of £425.00 + VAT (£510.00). You can add a keyboard and mouse set and/or monitor if required. You can choose to have a larger hard drive or another version of Windows or Linux to suit your needs. We have built gaming computers for customers.

We can supply Windows 7 or Windows 10 laptops and a full range of printers, together with the software you need to run your business or use at home such as Microsoft Office or the free Open Office range.

04/01/2017

Combined Computer Resources have been providing excellence in the IT support market at affordable prices since 1989. We are happy working with home users or corporate clients and everything in between.

If you have an issue with your computer equipment give us a call. We can provide you with the level of support you need and can afford.