The Microsoft Technician Scam

showboat2
Sep 7, 2015
2 min read

This is a common scam whereby you receive a call from a technician supposedly from the Microsoft Technical Support centre. The caller (often with a strong Indian accent) claims that their system has detected a number of error messages received from your computer and that they are making a courtesy call to help you solve the problem.

This often creates a knee-jerk r...eaction in some people, especially those more vulnerable and less tech savvy folk and it is they that will often accept assistance. The caller will give you instructions which will allow you to see your event viewer which logs all Microsoft messages and which invariably include some errors. Certain error messages are quite normal on most computers but this enforces the caller’s suggestion that your computer is faulty. The end game is either they will offer to “sweep and update” your software online for a once off fee (they may ask for your credit card details or will offer alternatives like using PayPal) or they will get you to allow them access to your computer via a desktop sharing site such as Team Viewer. They use this to install a spy programme to monitor your computer remotely which could lead to hacking into your emails, business accounts or obtain your banking information. Essentially know that Microsoft or any other large software provider will NEVER make an unsolicited call about updates or security. If you get a call like this, hang up. Also, don’t stress about where they got your details from. Cybercriminals use publicly available phone directories. This is how they know your name. They might even guess what operating system you are using. One further warning: An advanced version of this scam is to get a follow-up call after you have successfully thwarted your scam caller. The new technician claiming to be from a cyber-security company correctly identifies that you received a scam call earlier and offers to check your computer to make sure it hasn’t been compromised. This is also a scam. For further information especially with how to deal with calls like this, watch our informative video about the subject.EndFragment