The Columbia, South Carolina Better Business Bureau warns consumers who own a computer of a disturbing crime wave going on in Raleigh, North Carolina that could spread to other communities.
Victims say the scam starts with a phone call to their home.
The caller claims to represent a software company and offers to provide the prospective victim with free software to test for the company. If the victim owns a computer and is interested in the software, the caller goes to work. He asks questions about the victim and his or her computer, eventually determining where the victim lives and what kind of computer he or she uses. Then within a few days, the victim returns home from work to find that his or her home has been entered and the computer equipment gone. These thieves are using the promise of free software and the guise of needing to determine compatibility to determine whether your equipment is worth the break in.