@bender@twtxt.net These sorts of scams are a huge problem and gift cards are an easy way to move money around anonymously. There are a few different common types of scams, but they usually involve someone logging into the victim’s computer using a remote desktop utility like TeamViewer and asking him for money under some false pretense. If the victim won’t pay, the scammer will sometimes lock down the computer so they can’t use it.
Usually, it’s nothing a reinstall won’t fix but if they can change the password/recovery of the Microsoft account and the disk is encrypted (which is the default if you sign in to a Microsoft account on Windows 11) it can be impossible to get their data back without the help of Microsoft support, who will treat you as if you’re the one trying to steal the account. It is important to remember that the people running these types of scams don’t have much deep technical knowledge (if they did, they could get a real job) so I’ve never heard of that happening but it is a serious risk.