The so called “Microsoft Telephone Scam” has been in operation for a few years now.
Many of you will be familiar with this phishing scam, you or your friends or family may have fallen victim to this scam.
What is it?
Firstly – it is nothing to do with Microsoft (or any other reputable IT company that they claim to be calling on behalf of)
You receive a cold call from a call centre in South Asia. Usually the caller claims to be called something like Mark, from Manchester, calling on behalf of Microsoft (or another IT company). They will suggest that your computer has been sending them error reports and that by purchasing a piece of software or allowing them remote access to you computer – they can fix this problem. Often offering lifetime protection and support.
This scam has been around for a while now – but there is a new angle on the damage that they can do to your computer. On a private forum for computer shop owners across the country there is discussion of a new bug that they install on your computer which will encrypt the hard drive on your computer by initialising a password on your hard drive. This will make data recovery impossible.
What to do if you receive a call
Hang up – (but first) be as abusive as you want because these people are calling thousands of numbers hoping to catch a few “off guard”. They want control of your computer via remote access and if you realise it is a scam when they ask you for bank card details they can encrypt your computer – holding you to ransom to have it unlocked. So yes – be as abusive as you like. You could just hang up the phone and that’s it, but these people are phoning you from the other side of the world trying to steal your money. So have a go at them first before hanging up.
Why you may not have heard of this scam
Most people will feel upset with themselves for falling victim to this kind of con. OK so you have been conned. Caught out by very convincing fraudsters that do this for a living. Don’t beat yourself up about this. And don’t keep this quiet! Tell your friends! Spread the word! Chances are someone you know has also been a victim. If only they hadn’t kept it quiet – you would be aware of this scam.
More Information
Do a simple search on any search engine for “computer telephone scam”, or “Microsoft Scam”. There has been plenty of media coverage on TV and news sites about this and the general advice is to hang up and not engage in any conversation.
Links:
Police – Action Fraud
Telegraph Report
Which Magazine
BBC Report From 2010!
Computer Virus’s vs Telephone Scams
New computer virus’s are being released all the time. Most are very clever. Hackers manage to break the code on computer security systems and take advantage of security loopholes in computer operating systems. This requires skill and knowledge on behalf of the hacker. This is called cyber-crime.
Telephone scams involve an overseas call centre working their way through the phone book and getting lucky with the few that they manage to convince.