Actually, this is not a particularly new scam, and it combines two types of attacks that have been around longer than the IBM PC.
The first part of the attack is "social engineering", which is to convince someone, usually over the phone, that the attacker is someone they aren't and get the victim to grant the attacker access to a computer system. While the movies portray hackers breaking into computers like safecrackers opening a safe (another myth), in reality they're much more likely to just convince someone to hand over the password.
The second part is a "trojan horse", a program that the victim thinks is harmless and installs on his computer. The program turns out to be malware, which may or may not be immediately obvious.
Security, be it computers or anything else, is never accomplished with a single layer of defense. Social engineering can usually be prevented with a healthy dose of skeptcism. Unfortunately it's not that difficult to overcome the average person's suspicions, as grifters, scammers and con men have long known. One simple trick to screen out scammers is to tell them you'll call them back at their PUBLISHED number. For example, if the caller claims to be with the IRS, tell them you'll call the published IRS 800 number and ask them for their extension. A scammer won't be able to provide an extension and will usually hang up immediately. Any legitimate company will have a published number you can find on the web. (Of course a well-prepared scammer will have created a bogus presences on the web, but most don't want to leave a trail for investigators.)
The simplest way to keep trojans off your computer is to switch to Linux. Few trojans target Linux, and the operating system is much more resistant to trojan attacks than Windows. If you have to run Windows (maybe you have software that's only available on Windows), you can improve security slightly by always logging in as a user without administrator privileges. Frankly, that's not much protection on Windows, but it's better than nothing.
The third layer is to regularly back up any data you can't afford to lose. That's a good practice regardless, and you'll never have to pay ransom to get your own data back.
As for tracking down the scammers and prosecuting them, fugetaboutit. Most operate from countries like India and Russia where they're well beyond the reach of US law enforcement. And if one scammer is caught, there will be ten more ready to take his place. In countries where a dollar a day is good pay, working a computer scam pays much better than working in a legitimate call center.
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Today's Featured Article - History of the Nuffield Tractor - by Anthony West. The Nuffield tractor story started in early 1945. The British government still reeling from the effects of the war on the economy, approached the Nuffield organization to see if they would design and build an "ALL NEW" British built wheeled tractor, suitable for both British and world farming.
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