I've been hacked/scammed

[Jeana4]

I got a call and thought it might be a scam. Asked many questions and ended up giving them control of my computer. They were going to refund me $400.00 for a service and had me access my bank and statement. When I entered the amount 400.00 that was owed me, the account showed that I had entered 4000.00 and so they asked me to return the over deposited amount. By then, I had called my bank to see if the 4000 was deposited; it was not. Bank personnel told me to hang up the call, so I did. Bank also suggested that I contact you.....

[Dragon-Fur]

@Jeana4 

It sounds serious.

I am sorry this happened to you, Jeana.

You gave the bad guys control of your computer and possibly gave them access to your money.

Good that you called the bank.  Hopefully your bank will help you protect your money.

No one should be a victim to this type of fraud - it is very common, though, and sometimes people get caught.

Sneaky rats call you on the phone or send an email.

They convince you that you are in trouble and (that) you need help from "Sneaky Rat" company.

It is all lies, of course.

Legitimate companies never just call you on the phone one day and tell you your computer is in trouble.

This is a similar scam to the "We are the IRS and we are coming to arrest you."  Same kind of rats.

OK...

The official messages:

READ – Be Informed – Be Aware

HP Fraud Alert: Protecting Yourself from Scams | HP® Official Site

HP Fraud Alert: Protect Yourself from Scams, Report Suspicious Calls

and

Request for an Assist

• I will submit a request that someone take a look at your question / concern.

Worth Noting

• Our Community is not HP Technical Support, nor are we HP Sales or HP Service.
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Note to those reading:

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[Jeana4]

What do you suggest I should do next to prevent "them" from getting any data from my laptop?

[Dragon-Fur]

@Jeana4 

When an agent responds, he / she will fill in details.

In general,

The data, if "they" were able to grab it, is done - door was open and horse left the barn and all that.

Which data depends on the skill level of the thieves.  Hopefully, they were idiots and just wanted to scare you into giving them  money to fix imaginary troubles on the computer.  Most thieves are not hackers like you see on TV - they are sad, desperate, nasty little creatures who prey on everyone around them.

Change every password that was stored in the computer that is not fully encrypted.  Not sure?  Change passwords on that computer that you ever used.  Keep a plain text file with passwords written in it?  Silly, but people do this all the time.   Assume all text files have been read / scanned / checked.  Thieves, a few of them at least, might use sophisticated programs to quickly plow through the contents of your computer to steal anything of interest.

If you keep more than the records for your bank on the computer, assume these might be compromised - change passwords to your medical login, for example.

If you know how to do it,

Change the password to your network (router)

Change the wireless password you use to log into your home network wireless.

Scan the depths of the computer using your very best security software.  

Lots of our experts have strong opinions about this subject and may jump in with examples of what you should use.

Whatever security software you are using, run a full scan on all the disks.

At the least, you should have Windows Defender (comes installed with Windows) - put it to work scanning the system.

Talk to someone.

Do not shoulder this event by yourself.

You are not alone - these things have happened to other people, too.

Talk to family, friends, someone at your church.

If you have few personal contacts, call your local city outreach center or city / town Community Center.

No one?  Call your Doctor and ask about who you can talk to about an unsettling event.

Forgive yourself for getting caught.

Take a breath, work through what you can do.

Do one thing at a time.

Make a plan to be safer.

Thank you for participating in our HP Community.

We are a world community of volunteers dedicated to supporting HP technology