Scam warning. PLEASE read!
I know most of you who read this would probably not fall for this, but please do take note of it and pass it on to those less fortunate in the IT world. It is a bit long, but please persevere and read it through.
Recently, one of our clients rung up questioning a phone call she had received from overseas. In her words, the person had a 'heavy asian accent' and claimed to be from microsoft. The call seemed a bit delayed in communication, and it was surmised it came from overseas.
He told her that her computer had reported errors to them (microsoft) and that he tried to get her to check for said errors, in the error logs. Now these error logs do exist, and it's very rare for there to be NO errors in these logs, as windows is full of fail. Basically he tricked her into believing these errors were serious, and tried to get her to go to a website where she could connect to a technician who could fix it for her.
For obvious reasons, I won't post that web address here. But it's not a microsoft one.
Suffice to say, we checked this website out and it's not a good one. It really does try to get you to log in somewhere, through an official looking interface, but there was no way this has anything to do with microsoft. A couple of reasons spring to mind.
1. Microsoft will never, ever, cold call anyone. How would they have your number?
2. If your system has an error, it tries to report it to microsoft via the internet, but they won't do anything for you personally. If the problem turns up enough, they'll look at creating and releasing a patch to fix it on all machines.
3. Microsoft really aren't that helpful anyway. Being on the phone with them trying to fix an issue is one of the worst experiences of my life. Telling ten different people the exact same thing, with my co-worker listening to me and laughing each time after the third when I said the problem to someone.
4. The web address shows no relation to anything microsoft.
We released a bulletin to everyone on our email list, and a couple of people already responded with stories of the same event happening to them, and a few who were grateful as they were rung by the scammers after reading our bulletin, and were not fooled.
These people are trying to get you to log in to a system where they will have full control of your computer. They will have access to any information you may have there, including emails if you use any form of client that automatically connects. This is a very dangerous situation where a lot of harm could be done, especially if there is any record of credit cards or the like easily available.
Once again, I know the majority of you who read this will not fall for such a scam, but please repost or forward this information to people you know that I do not who might fall victim to this.
Thank you for your time.
Vash.
Recently, one of our clients rung up questioning a phone call she had received from overseas. In her words, the person had a 'heavy asian accent' and claimed to be from microsoft. The call seemed a bit delayed in communication, and it was surmised it came from overseas.
He told her that her computer had reported errors to them (microsoft) and that he tried to get her to check for said errors, in the error logs. Now these error logs do exist, and it's very rare for there to be NO errors in these logs, as windows is full of fail. Basically he tricked her into believing these errors were serious, and tried to get her to go to a website where she could connect to a technician who could fix it for her.
For obvious reasons, I won't post that web address here. But it's not a microsoft one.
Suffice to say, we checked this website out and it's not a good one. It really does try to get you to log in somewhere, through an official looking interface, but there was no way this has anything to do with microsoft. A couple of reasons spring to mind.
1. Microsoft will never, ever, cold call anyone. How would they have your number?
2. If your system has an error, it tries to report it to microsoft via the internet, but they won't do anything for you personally. If the problem turns up enough, they'll look at creating and releasing a patch to fix it on all machines.
3. Microsoft really aren't that helpful anyway. Being on the phone with them trying to fix an issue is one of the worst experiences of my life. Telling ten different people the exact same thing, with my co-worker listening to me and laughing each time after the third when I said the problem to someone.
4. The web address shows no relation to anything microsoft.
We released a bulletin to everyone on our email list, and a couple of people already responded with stories of the same event happening to them, and a few who were grateful as they were rung by the scammers after reading our bulletin, and were not fooled.
These people are trying to get you to log in to a system where they will have full control of your computer. They will have access to any information you may have there, including emails if you use any form of client that automatically connects. This is a very dangerous situation where a lot of harm could be done, especially if there is any record of credit cards or the like easily available.
Once again, I know the majority of you who read this will not fall for such a scam, but please repost or forward this information to people you know that I do not who might fall victim to this.
Thank you for your time.
Vash.