Cold Call Microsoft Scam

We are all very concerned about protecting our computers with virus protection programs. We do this because we know if our computers get a virus there is the potential for sensitive information to be leaked, increasing the risk of our identities being stolen or money taken from our bank accounts. But what about the good old fashion telephone?

I had a call from a new customer this week, they had fallen victim to a scam that meant a large sum of money was deducted from their bank account.

The victim received a call from a person claiming they worked for Microsoft. They were offering to fix their computer problem for £37.99.

The victim allowed the caller remote access to the computer to “resolve the problem”. They spent a total of 5 hours controlling the machine making changes and installing programs. The caller asked for payment via the the Internet for £37.99. We have to assume a key logger was installed so the caller could see any keystrokes made, therefore giving away any passwords entered.

Just before payment was made, the caller asked for the approximate value of the computer and added that to the amount that was to be paid. This was for “Insurance purposes”. I still cant understand the logic behind this, but the victim agreed and a payment of £487.99 was made.

A few days later, £975.98 had been taken from the bank account with no way to claim back the funds.

You can find out more information at Microsofts website

We now have the computer and can see the scammers had installed various bogus programs. We are now working to give the computer a clean bill of health.

Please remember you should never allow access to your computer unless you are sure you know who you are dealing with. However if you have allowed access to your computer and start to become suspicious, turn off your Internet router. This will disconnect your computer from the Internet, stopping any remote connections. You should also contact your bank to issue new cards and security details.