Unmask the Fake Microsoft Support Scammers

By now we should all be aware that most everything is a scam.  Those telemarketers that call you asking you to fill out a survey are getting profile information on you and getting paid to collect that data.  Door to door art sales people are often selling cheap prints after being scammed themselves to try and make a few extra bucks.

One of the worst scams revolves around malware, sometimes the scam is a program holding your computer hostage while others take a more human approach can call you saying they are from Microsoft and claim you are infected and we can fix it for you.

This is along the lines of a person impersonating a police officer to do whatever they want.

Computer savvy users can recognize these scams and one security expert decided to fight back.

I just want to mention that there is no such department at Microsoft, and they would never call up customers offering this. So if you ever get a call ‘from Microsoft’ stating that there are some indications that your computer is broken or infected - please hang up!

Well, they have called me several times, and finally Ii got fed up with this and started to play along. At the same time I had my virtual machines running and was recording everything that they were doing. The goal was to find out who they were and exactly what the scam was. Luckily I was able to get hold of information such as their internal IP addresses, the PayPal accounts used to wire money and the numbers they are calling from.

Their approach is pretty simple and reminds me of a fake lotto or Fedex scam where they contact you saying they can help but require that you send them money first, or re-send a package when you receive it.  The end result is you being separated from your money and no way to get it back.

Related Web URL: http://www.securelist.com/en/blog/208193750/Trying...