I RECENTLY read the letter sent in by Gregor Woods titled “It isn’t Microsoft calling you” and I think that it is a good thing to bring light to this type of scam.
Being in IT, I knew what they were up to and decided to follow along without actually being at my computer to do so.
Here is what I found is their goal, in possibly one of many types of scams:
The fake Microsoft will call and get you to go to your computer and open something called “Event Viewer” which is an event monitor for every single thing that happens on your computer.
They will then draw your attention to the red exclamation marks on the screen and point out that there are viruses/errors/issues with your computer (This is a lie as having those red marks is normal).
After this, they may ask you to download a free piece of legitimate software called TeamViewer which allocates a code to your computer along with a password. Once you give the scammers those codes, they have full access to your computer.
Now this next part may change according to the different scams, but this is what I have found: Within a folder on your hard drive is a folder called System32 which is basically the operating system. The scammers will tell you that they will fix the viruses/errors and issues for free once you give them access however they go and delete this folder, causing your computer to crash. You tell them what happened and they will say that it’s due to the virus. They will then offer you another service to fix said crash and that you need to pay to do so (Normally within the $40 range).
This is where they make their money.
Dylan Foonk
Botha’s Hill
