BEWARE: New Computer-Related Phone Scam

As a computer technician, I obviously deal with people and their computers every day. Lately, I’m running into more and more people who seem to be the target of a computer-related telephone scam, and it hit close to home today.

This is the way the scam works. The intended victim gets a cold-call from an alleged Microsoft employee, and the reason for the call is that the victim’s computer is riddled with viruses and will go down completely if not attended to immediately. Once the victim agrees (and furnishes a credit card number), the “technician” uses remote control software (usually through a remote control website), giving them the opportunity to potentially install a rootkit or backdoor (though I haven’t seen any evidence in the few occasions where my customers have actually been tricked).

As a technician, I can say one thing definitively:

Unless you explicitly contract with a company for remote monitoring and support, YOU WILL NEVER BE COLD-CALLED BY ANY COMPANY TELLING YOU YOUR MACHINE NEEDS ATTENTION.

It won’t happen. If you get a call like this, hang up. If you don’t hang up, DO NOT give them your credit card info, and DO NOT allow them to take remote control of your computer.

You’re welcome.