Email scams have been going around for some time and people are getting used to emails claiming to be from the banks, trying to get hold of your account details or online banking password – so crooks are now turning to other ways to try and scam people.
The latest malware scam, which has started to hit worldwide, involves people making fake telephone calls claiming to be from Microsoft or an Antivirus company, trying to provide over the phone instructions to fix a virus that they are claiming is on your machine, which doesn’t exist. The instructions actually turn your machine into a spam spreading portal.
The telephone instructions actually turn your machine into a spam spreading portal
In a typical scenario of the scam, callers are told that their machine is being monitored by Microsoft and an infection has been detected. The caller then offers to talk the customer through steps to fix the (non-existent) problem.
The instructions install a piece of software on the machine which then allows it to be used as part of what’s called a bot network, and also potentially allows someone to connect to your machine and steal personal details like account numbers and online passwords.
If all this wasn’t already bad enough, many people have been asked to provide credit card details to pay a service fee.
How to deal with this type of scam
As always ignore anyone who makes a phone call out of the blue asking for personal information of any kind. They don’t have any way of actually telling that you have a computer or not, so the best thing to do is not get in to a discussion with them – just simply hang up.
This article is written James Matthews, the founder of Innovation IT Support, specialising in IT support including email, networking, computer repairs, upgrades and system health checks.
