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Man Conned Out of Millions for ''Virus Protection''

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 81 comments

That's some real-life malware.

Computer viruses are serious business. Like real viruses, infections must be dealt with quickly and thoroughly. Sadly, just like real-life healers of viruses, sometimes there are crooks out there.

Such goes the story of 58-year-old Roger C. Davidson from Mount Kisco, NY, who has been cheated out of millions after bringing his computer into a repair shop for fear that his machine had been infected with a virus.

In August 2004, he brought his computer to a shop on Main Street. There, Vickram Bedi, 36, the owner of the shop, told Davidson that he indeed had a virus. This wasn't just any computer virus – oh, no – it was a particularly vicious one that had infected all the computers in the shop.

Thankfully, Bedi's uncle was a military officer in India and was put on the mission to retrieve the source of this virus on a hard drive located in Honduras. From there, Bedi learned that the virus was linked to Polish priests who were tied to the conservative Roman Catholic organization Opus Dei. This organization had plans to harm Mr. Davidson.

Naturally, Bedi persuaded Davidson to not only pay for removal of the virus, but also for personal protection. Davidson paid Bedi's shop through credit card payments over the years, which have totaled to over $6 million.

While all of this sounds impossible and a very simple scam to steer clear of, Mr. Davidson was in no way a computer expert. His specialty is in music and he wanted to save his compositions that he stored on his computer.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

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Top Comments
  • 42 Hide
    random_guy417 , November 14, 2010 12:26 PM
    I can understand the normal $50 or so for a fake anti-virus, but seriously, $6 million... Wouldn't you look something up or get a second opinion before spending this kind of money, even if you're not computer savvy?
  • 41 Hide
    Trashit , November 14, 2010 12:43 PM
    snotlingwell, there ARE some stupid people out there and it is our duty to exploit them!


    That's Norton AV in a nutshell.
  • 28 Hide
    jonpaul37 , November 14, 2010 12:39 PM
    I just lost about 7 IQ points on behalf of Mr. Davidson...
Other Comments
    Display all 81 comments.
  • 42 Hide
    random_guy417 , November 14, 2010 12:26 PM
    I can understand the normal $50 or so for a fake anti-virus, but seriously, $6 million... Wouldn't you look something up or get a second opinion before spending this kind of money, even if you're not computer savvy?
  • 15 Hide
    makrish , November 14, 2010 12:28 PM
    Oh dear...
  • 13 Hide
    55Range , November 14, 2010 12:30 PM
    O . o
  • 28 Hide
    cappster , November 14, 2010 12:36 PM
    And those are the kind of idiots that vote in our elections :-/
  • 28 Hide
    jonpaul37 , November 14, 2010 12:39 PM
    I just lost about 7 IQ points on behalf of Mr. Davidson...
  • 41 Hide
    Trashit , November 14, 2010 12:43 PM
    snotlingwell, there ARE some stupid people out there and it is our duty to exploit them!


    That's Norton AV in a nutshell.
  • 5 Hide
    arl4nj0i , November 14, 2010 12:43 PM
    that's some music composition huh...
  • 18 Hide
    jitpublisher , November 14, 2010 12:46 PM
    Holy mother of.....normally I would make some comment about all the low life cheats in the world, but if you are so...so...I don't even know what to call you, but it goes way beyond "stupid" to fall for this, then you are getting you just rewards.
  • 6 Hide
    liveonc , November 14, 2010 12:46 PM
    One is born every minute. DON'T feed the Trolls! Cons can't be encouraged, but neither can "born again stupid"...
  • 24 Hide
    rtfm , November 14, 2010 1:06 PM
    icemunkThey deserved it. Rich people should get conned. They con people to make their millions


    Not all rich people con others, some work damn hard for their money (and no, I'm not rich, not even averagely wealthy). He didn't deserve to be conned but he is a total F'ing idiot for believing all that bs.
  • 11 Hide
    aaron88_7 , November 14, 2010 1:26 PM
    icemunkThey deserved it. Rich people should get conned. They con people to make their millions

    It doesn't appear you read far enough into the article to see that this millionaire is a musician. Kinda hard to con people out of money when they are buying your music out of their own free will.
  • 7 Hide
    thechief73 , November 14, 2010 1:29 PM
    You can only be conned if you are willing to be conned. Sad story but in the end its his own ignorant fault.
  • 10 Hide
    lukeeu , November 14, 2010 1:30 PM
    Quote:
    From there, Bedi learned that the virus was linked to Polish priests who were tied to the conservative Roman Catholic organization Opus Dei. This organization had plans to harm Mr. Davidson.
    This is actually serious. They have ties with the Spanish Inquisition and strike when you least expect them.
  • 2 Hide
    Master Exon , November 14, 2010 1:50 PM
    I would accuse him of deserving it despite knowing absolutely nothing of his character (like others before me), but now I wonder how a musician acquired 6 million...
  • 4 Hide
    neblix , November 14, 2010 2:00 PM
    Whether or not you know about computers doesn't justify being stupid.
  • 9 Hide
    DXRick , November 14, 2010 2:10 PM
    Dang. I knew those Polish priests were up to no good!!
  • 6 Hide
    scook9 , November 14, 2010 2:15 PM
    That's odd.....I figured it would have been a nigerian antivirus that protected him - the kind that is so good their royalty uses it
  • 7 Hide
    bv90andy , November 14, 2010 2:20 PM

    This is just stupid, so stupid that I almost don't believe it.
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