Here’s yet another scam to be aware of. This has been going on for a while but it appears there’s been a recent spike in incidents.
One of our clients was recently tricked by a scam like this:
Someone calls your phone, probably from a blocked number, and they probably have an Indian accent, according to the reports we have heard so far. It’s important to remember it won’t always be so obvious, though. Some of these people can be very convincing. It’s their job to trick you.
Next, he/she will tell you they are from Microsoft and they are calling about some errors on your computer.
We have heard that the scammer will act very concerned, demanding, and even threatening about these supposed problems with your computer. They will try to create urgency and panic to get you to act without thinking.
Here are 7 red flags that tell you this is a scam:
- Microsoft will never call you unless you call them first. They don’t have a department of people calling around about error messages. The scammers catch a lot of people by dropping Microsoft’s name. Our user who was tricked said her computer had actually just recovered from an error a day earlier, and she had clicked “report this problem to Microsoft”, causing the coincidental call to seem very real.
- Asked to check for errors: They asked her to check for error messages in the bottom right corner of her screen. She told them about the errors that appeared, and they told our client her computer had a very serious virus (it didn’t).
- Open DOS window: They asked her to type some DOS commands then read the output. They said it was some kind of “Verify test” to check if they were working on the right machine. The information they got from this trick helped them install software on her computer.
- Connect to her computer: They asked to connect to her computer to fix these “problems”. Once they connected, they had free reign to install anything.
- Said her computer was all messed up: She said the scammer opened an old security certificate and told her the computer hadn’t been updated since 2011. The scammer got very excited and acted as though this was an extremely urgent issue.
- Asked her to pay: They wanted her credit card number to pay for this service. Also offered up their PayPal account.
- They got defensive when she asked questions: They didn’t like her asking too many questions. They kept trying to get her to panic.
Ok if you let the scammers get this far, the dead giveaway is asking for your credit card. The rule is never, ever, ever give out your credit card to someone who called you. Ever. If you are concerned your computer is infected, hang up, shut it off, and call someone reputable to get help.
Obviously if you’re a Fixed IT customer you know to call us at any sign of foul play. If you aren’t a Fixed IT customer yet, know this, Microsoft, or any legit tech support company you haven’t hired, will never call you to fix a virus. You may actually have a virus, but do not let the stranger on the phone attempt to “fix it”. It’s a scam every time. I promise you.
