My child answered the phone once, and instead of asking to speak with an adult in the house like any proper (and scrupulous) telemarketer would, the caller went through the explanation of how the computer was infected and needed to be dealt with immediately. It doesn’t matter in the end because the scammers will talk to anyone. That scared me a bit, knowing that these callers could possibly know where I lived, so I ended that call in a hurry. When “Greg” retorted that he knew everything about me and rattled off my name and the city I lived in, it made me think he was working off a list obtained from a data breach dump. They start off with a polite, “Good afternoon, ma’am.” I infuriated “Greg” by claiming he must be talking about someone else’s computer as it couldn’t be my computer that was infected. Most of the time, scammers don’t bother with names. Because our phone is listed in my husband’s name, scammers working off public phone records probably switched to Mrs. Some scammers used my married name, which isn’t listed anywhere. Scammers get phone numbers from myriad places: marketing lists sold between telemarketers, the phone book, personal records of criminal forums from data breaches. To avail myself of their help, I would have to hand over my credit card number and pay anywhere from $49 to $500.
WINDOWS R R SOFTWARE
The remote control software can be used by the attacker to steal data, download malware, and further compromise the system. Depending on the scam, the caller tries to talk you into installing remote software, such as TeamViewer or AMMYY, onto your computer, or they direct you to a website to download software that would supposedly fix the problems. Once the victim has been convinced there is a problem, the hard part is done. Needless to say, she hung up immediately.
WINDOWS R R WINDOWS
“Rachel” sounded genuinely horrified when I told her how many errors were in Windows Event Viewer: “This is the worst I’ve ever seen!” I burst out laughing.
WINDOWS R R HOW TO
"Jake" walked me through finding my unique computer ID using the command line.ĪLSO ON CSO: How to respond to ransomware threats The caller notes how many errors are listed (most of which are harmless) and uses the list as proof the computer is compromised.
They instruct you to press the Windows key and R to bring up the Run box on your system, and to enter commands to open Windows Event Viewer. The scammers don’t expect you to take it at their word they are willing to show proof that your computer has been hacked.
WINDOWS R R LICENSE
“Whenever there is any negative activity going on with your computer, right? We get notified from the license ID of your computer,” said “Nancy.” Or they explain that they have detected suspicious activity emanating from your PC. They are intent on convincing you the threat is not only real but hackers are already in your system performing all manner of nefarious activities. The callers are polite, and they sound very earnest, explaining in great detail how hackers can loot your bank accounts, steal your identity, and compromise passwords. The scam’s success hinges on being helpful Here is what I found out about the Windows scammer underworld via conversations with “Jake,” “Mary,” “Nancy,” “Greg,” “William,” and others.
I had multiple opportunities to try a variety of conversational gambits and to ask questions of my own. Over a period of three months, I received calls on average of four times a week, from various people, all intent on proving that my computer had been hacked and that they were calling to save the day. I recently received such a call and decided to play along, to see how the scam evolves and who the players might be.
The scam has been netting victims for years, despite the fact that none of what the callers say makes sense. These Windows scammers feed off people’s concerns about data breaches and identity theft to trick them into installing malware onto their machines. So goes the opening line of the well-known phone scam, where a person calls purporting to be a help desk technician reaching out to resolve your computer problems.