It’s A Scam
Yes, it’s a scam. Someone calls about your computer having trouble. Pop up about needing to update Flash. That nice Nigerian Prince is willing to pay you to hold his money for a bit. It’s all a scam, it’s always a scam.
As the old joke goes, how do you know a politician is lying? Their lips are moving. How do you know it’s a scam? A request is being made. It’s a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in, but better safe then sorry.
Your Mom calls on the phone? Neighbor stops over? Friend at work? It’s a bit different in these cases, as you know the people and have a personal history (for good or bad). But for strangers, be it online, over the phone, or whatever other methods? Assume they are out to get you, after all ‘paranoia is a survival trait‘.
Similarly, who the message appears to be from is spoof-able. Email, phone number, return address, etc. The methods and details vary, but all can be ‘faked’.
So what do you do when a scam comes to your attention? Be polite, take note of what they claim is the issue. Then find independent confirmation. Phone call from Microsoft about your computer breaking? Lookup Microsoft support and ask them yourself (hint: they will tell you they don’t call people like that). Flash player in need of updates? Do a search for “Flash Player” and download from the actual source (hint: it’s Adobe, and odds are you don’t need it anyways).
At no point do what the scammer is asking you to do (unless you’re in need of having more ‘excitement‘ in your life).
The details of scams have changed over the years, but so long as someone is willing to exploit others for personal gain we have had (and will continue to have) scams. As technology improves, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see scams that impersonate the voice and word usage of your friends and family in their scamming. We’re almost there with regards to word usage, and while Siri/Alexa/Cortana don’t sound like anyone I know, they don’t sound very ‘machine’ either. Give them another couple of iterations and we have a new kind of scam, where a voice you recognize, using the words that person would use, is asking you to do something you shouldn’t.
In the end, I’ll share the advice of a wiser man then I, and say “Trust but verify“. If you can’t verify, then you can’t act on that trust.
As a related tangent, don’t kick yourself if you get caught. We have a tendency to make mistakes when emotional, and scammers prey on that. Through terror, confusion, or just plain misleading. Details vary, but taking the time to step back and think should help you avoid most of them. And if you’re being denied that time? Yet more evidence it’s a scam.