Tech Scams come in various ways. My neighbor recently had someone calling her claiming they were from Microsoft and her computer was infected. Thankfully she knew it was a scam. This happens way too often.
They keep calling until they find someone who will take the bait. They try to sound legitimate. After all they claim to be Tech Support from Microsoft, Apple and many other well known companies. They may ask you to access some files on your computer and ask you if you have a certain file (of course you do, everyone’s computer does). The scammers will claim those files are malware. Next they will ask you to connect remotely. They will claim to have found a problem that does not exist on your computer and ask for payment to fix it.
This is where the problem really begins, the scammers will ask you to install a program which is malware. This gives them access to your computer, your sensitive data (user names and passwords).
The scammers may ask you to buy software that is useless or pirated licensed. Many times the scammers ask to enroll you in a maintenance program.
They will ask you for your credit card information so they can bill you for their fake services. The scammers may ask you to go to their website so you can enter your credit card information and all the personal information needed for that. Once you give this information you have given them what they want, your money, and a way into your computer.
You may wonder how can I protect myself. First off Microsoft, Apple, or any IT will never call and tell you that your computer has problems. You can call the Security software of the company, but do not use the phone number from the scammer’s website or from the phone conversation. They are phony.
You can contact us for your concerns or visit the FTC website for more information.
Good info. More people need to be aware of this, because far too many still fall for this type of scam.
Little anecdote, a couple of months ago a friend of mine visited his mother, and as luck would have it, he walked in on a conversation with “Microsoft Tech Support”. After taking over the phone, insulting them a bit for good measure, and informing them of the correct orifice to store their malware in to protect it from the elements, he turned to his mother and said: “Come on, mom… I raised you better than this”. To which she replied: “Yeah, but they were so convincing”… Goes to show that even people who are generally aware of the dangers of the Internet, and who should know better, can still fall for these scams.