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Tech support scams: Those supposed to save you can steal from you
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: June 7, 2019
Tech support. They come to the rescue when computer systems are down or are not working correctly. Sure, they may not speak English as clearly as some people might like, but they can usually help.
Unless, that is, the tech support on the phone or on the computer is a scam. While posing as tech help, the scammer rips you off in numerous ways. These include getting a password, social security number, credit card info or installing various kinds of malware in your device or system.
So how can you protect yourself? The Avast antivirus company has a handy little tip sheet on beating tech support scammers, starting with the ways in which they operate.
First and foremost: No legitimate tech support company will call you or contact you in any way out of the blue. They only respond to calls from actual customers. If you didn’t call them, they aren’t calling you. They are probably scamming you (this is not the same as a call from your ISP or computer security folks).
Scams generally will come via smartphone, a web scam, pop up messages, email scams and online ads.
On the phone: The victim will get a call from someone who knows the victim’s name and maybe some personal information, possibly from a spoofed number that looks legit. The scammer then scares or talks the victim into installing some software on a computer. This is a type of phishing expedition. You know the answer to this one: Do not answer the phone if you don’t recognize the number.
Web scams. One common web scam is “typo sitting.” This is a scammer taking control of a URL that is one letter or number away from a legit site and then infecting whoever clicks on it. Or you may get a fake “blue screen of death.” Then the toll free number gets called and the victim gets malware and a bill. Careful what you type!
Pop up warnings (I get these all the time). They tell you that you have a virus that needs to be fixed within two hours or some such. These are all scams! Don’t click.
And then a phishing expedition will come through email that looks like it comes from tech support. Do not!
And: Always keep the real contact info for real tech support at your desk and call them whenever something suspicious like this happens. Be safe!
Here’s the entire article. Worth a read: https://blog.avast.com/tech-support-scams?utm_content=246499&utm_term=99789296_1743_18&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc&utm_campaign=c_oo_paac_a_a_19q1_jj_newsrow04