WARNING: Popular scam fooling local Microsoft users

SEATTLE -- Scammers will go to great lengths to steal your personal information.

A Yelm woman recently thought she was getting some legitimate help from Microsoft to make her computer run better. Instead, she ended up losing access.

"I feel so violated," Yelm resident Shannon Carroll said.

Carroll received a call from a man saying he was with Microsoft Tech assistance. He told Carroll that her computer had altered the company to all kinds of virus issues.

Even though Carroll was skeptical, she gave in and gave the man some information. Within seconds, the man was pointing out phantom threats -- selling her hundreds of dollars in phony anti-virus software that was actually Malware used to capture her sensitive data. As he started rifling through her personal information, she hung up.

But the damage was done. She had to shut down her computer permanently. The family no longer has a computer.

Microsoft has devoted a full page on it's website on how to recognize this popular scam. Microsoft will never call you.

For more information on the scam, click here.