Support Scams continue

Support scams continue to threaten computer users.  A common one goes roughly as follows:

• The user receives a call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft or perhaps the user's ISP, claiming they have spotted a problem with the user's computer.
• The caller asks the user to connect to a website, so that they can be shown the problem.  The scammer then seeks to take control of the PC.
• Having done so, the user is shown a page of "Errors" on the PC which need to be fixed.  These are unlikely to be a real problem with the PC - they are either logs that are perfectly normal, or nothing to do with the PC at all.
• The scammer then seeks to sell the user software, such as anti-virus, at an outrageous price.  While the conversation continues, the scammer installs software and makes changes to the computer configuration.

In a case last week, the user realised a little late what was happening, and turned off the PC.  When the PC was restarted, the scammer had set a password so that the user could no longer log on.  Further investigation showed that anti-virus on the PC had been disabled, and a trojan virus loaded.

If you receive such a call, ignore it, or perhaps leave the phone line open and walk away, telling the scammer you are going to turn on the computer.  Microsoft Support will never, ever, phone an ordinary user unsolicited.  The scammer has no knowledge of the user's computer in advance - the phone number was obtained from a list, and they guessed that the user would have a Windows PC.

Fraud attempts should be reported to the UK Government body Action Fraud. In some cases they may then involve the Police.