The scammer’s objective is to
·
Make you pay for phony tech support
·
Install malicious software that captures
sensitive information. Often scammers will charge to remove this software.
·
Adjust your computer settings to leave it
vulnerable to future attacks.
·
Access your personal, financial, or credit card
information.
In a training event held on October 14th at the
Bellevue Square Microsoft Store, a Microsoft representative talked about the
Tech Support Scam, how it is delivered, and what you can do to protect
yourself.
Cold Calls. The most
common method of delivery that has received the most publicity is the cold
call. In a cold call, the scammer tries to establish their credibility in the
first 30 seconds as being from Microsoft and that they have detected a problem
in your computer. Microsoft does not proactively call customers about computer
or software problems.
Scareware. You
can receive a “popup” when you browse the web with a message similar to
“warning, your computer is infected” and encouraging you to call a phone number
that is often prominently displayed on your screen. The idea is to scare you
into action, get you emotional through fear. You call them, giving them access
to your computer. Microsoft does not use pop ups.
Ads. As you
search the web, you may come upon ads that talk about tech support, or any
other subject that you are searching for. Many search engines make it difficult
to detect ads search results. Be careful on what links you click on. The Microsoft
representative said that it labels the ads that come up on your searches.
To protect yourself from the Tech Support Scam, you can
·
For a cold call, hang up. Don’t do what they
tell you to do.
·
For Pop ups, do not call the number. Remove the
pop up with the “Task Manager” or if that does not work, reboot your computer.
·
For ads, do not click on ads that claim to be
Microsoft, but are really other companies.
Note: Scams have become more prevalent in our lives and
therefore more frustrating. There is often little that governments or large
companies can do to prevent or prosecute scammers. Often scammers make their
calls, send their emails, or develop their pop ups and ads in other countries
such as in India, Russia or in Eastern Europe. Where the federal or state
governments can, they do go after scammers. But, we as individuals are probably
the best deterrent to preventing scammers from stealing our identity and
therefore our money.
The simplest action that you can take is to hang up, not
click on a suspicious link, or not call the phone number on the pop up.
Scammers play a numbers game when they make those cold calls
or send their emails. Most people will hang up or ignore their calls and
emails. But if only 1% respond, the scammers can make plenty of money. They
just have to make lots of calls and send out plenty of emails. They have many
millions of people as an audience to tap.
One strategy that was talked about at the October 14th
training event was to play along when the Tech Support Scammer calls. The idea
is to take up the scammer’s time so that they are not calling other people, and
potentially getting money from a victim. One Microsoft employee said that he
does just that and may take as long as 30 to 40 minutes; listening to the
scammer, playing along, but only up to a point. He won’t let the scammer take
control of his computer, or download anything into his computer. He knows that
he is successful when the scammer starts swearing at him. Then he knows that he
has taken up the scammer’s valuable time. He hopes that more people will do
what he does. Then maybe the scammers will move on to another endeavor.
This tactic may not be for everyone. You may not have the
time or the confidence in computers to string a scammer along. But, it might be
something to consider the next time you get that Tech Support call.
For more information about then Tech Support Scam you can go to:
AARP Fraud Watch Network Video:
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