IT News and Information Blog

Computer Scams - Now by Phone  22.11.2010

Scammers and criminals are now using cold-calling by phone to trick users into giving up personal details and persuading them to install fake "anti-virus" software onto their computers.

Over the past few months Cyberoak has been a target of several scammers (but not fooled by them for a moment!). The calls became so frequent that we reported it to the police, who visited us and took the matter seriously. The problem, for the police, is that the perpetrators work from abroad and use various techniques to avoid being found.

The BBC has now reported one type of these scams (see this BBC News report for details.

The methods that we have seen or read about include:
• The caller claims they are from Microsoft or their support organisation and that they have learned that your computer has been infected with a virus.
• The caller claims they are from your bank, telephone company, mobile phone company or the shop that sold you the moble: they say they have a special or new deal/service/something and they "need to verify your details for our records". Do not tell them anything. no matter how innocent the information may seem.

What they want to achieve includes:
• obtaining enough of your personal information so that they can use your credit/debit cards, gain access to your bank accounts, steal your identity, etc.
• plant a virus/trojan on your computer so they can steal your personal information, discover the passwords you use to access your bank accounts and credit cards,
• plant a virus/trojan on your computer so they can secretly take control of your computer and use it as a slave to send spam emails or anything else they want to use your computer for.

The BBC report states that one scam operation alone made over £4.5 million pounds in a year. Further, the report mentions research by Get Safe Online which suggests that a third of UK internet users are victims of viruses.

Our advice is to never give out any personal information to callers, even if it is only your birth date, regardless who the caller claims to be. Remember, they called you, you didn't call them.

CDM
Posts: 2

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Reply #2 on : Tue 28 December 2010

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I've been contacted by one of these scammers in the past. I realised it wasn't genuine but after reading this article I reported the incident to the police, and I'll be on the lookout for similar scams in the future. Thanks!

Claire
Posts: 2

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Reply #1 on : Tue 21 December 2010

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A similar thing happened to me although the caller (Dave - with a strong Asian accent!) didn't claim to be from Microsoft.
He said he was from the technical support team and they had discovered a fault on my computer. Since many people who aren't technically minded take out this kind of cover when purchasing a computer he may well have convinced them to perform tasks that would have given him access to their details or allowed him to plant a virus.

When I demanded to know which company he was from he gave me a name and told me to look it up. I found a couple of hits on Google, but anyone can put up a fake web site.
It's a shame the police can't do more against these scammers. Thanks for alerting people on your site.

Last Edit: 22 December 2010 by Charles