Calls from Amazon?

Tuesday afternoon I received a call from a friend who said, "Hey, we're kind of worried about a possible attack on our computers.  What do we need to do?"

Why were they worried?

1. They received a call from Amazon, supposedly, telling them of a $1600 purchase that was made from their account.
2. In the process of working out the problem, login and bank card information were shared with the caller, and the caller was given control of the woman's computer for awhile.  
3. After a bit, the caller asked to talk with the husband and asked for control of his computer.  Luckily,  he questioned them about their identity and eventually hung up before sharing any more information.

Then they called me and asked what to do. What would you have told them?  
My recommendations:
Change passwords for any financial online accounts.
Change passwords for any large retail site accounts online.
Monitor financial and retail accounts periodically for awhile.

We all know better, but that sense of fear that something is wrong causes us to lose our heads sometimes.  What I want you to remember:
If ANY company calls to alert you to a problem, tell them you will contact them directly using the number on your credit card or on your monthly statement from that company.  That ASSURES you that who you are talking with is a legitimate employee.
One more alert:  Yesterday, someone told me they received a package in an Amazon box and it contained items they had not ordered.  The receipt inside gave contact information which they used to report the error.  However, quickly into the phone call they realized it was not a legitimate employee.  Questions about personal financial information raised suspicion and the call was terminated.  They were lucky.

Unfortunately, new types of scams appear every day because of the income they generate.  Sad.

Just remember - if something doesn't feel right, don't do it.  It is much better to err on the side of caution, taking no action, rather than giving away your personal information because of fear.  Private info can't be taken back once it has been given.

Happy safe computing!