Be warned: Microsoft scam surfaces

AN Athlone Park resident has urged people to be cautious of scam calls from cybercriminals, who claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support.

 The woman who wished to remain anonymous said, “This morning on the phone they called me by my surname. I don’t know where these scammers are obtaining our numbers from.” In total, the woman has received five calls from the scammers in the past week.

Microsoft confirmed it does not make unsolicited phone calls to help fix your computer.

In this scam, cybercriminals call you and claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support. They offer to help solve your computer problems. Once the cybercrimals have gained one’s trust, they attempt to damage your computer with malicious software including viruses and spyware.

Although law enforcement can trace phone numbers, perpetrators often use pay phones, disposable cellular phones or stolen cellular phone numbers. It’s better to avoid being conned rather than try to repair the damage afterwards.

Friends and relatives of the woman have received similar calls.

“The callers sound far from professional and can hardly be understood. They call from unknown numbers. They speak with such a strong Eastern or Asian accent, I can hardly  understand what they’re saying,” said the woman.

She encourages all who are receiving these suspicious calls to proceed with caution, as once the caller has ‘checked your Windows programme’ they might be able to obtain private information such as banking details and passwords into various accounts. Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism and immediately hang up. Do not provide any personal information.

The Microsoft website advises that if you suspect that you may have downloaded malware from a scam website or allowed a cybercriminal to access your computer, follow these tips:

• Change your computer’s password, change the password on your main email account, and your passwords for any financial accounts, especially your bank and credit card.
• Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if you have malware installed on your computer.
• If you are using an old version of Windows (Windows 7, Vista or XP), install Microsoft Security Essentials, which is a free programme. However, a known scam exists where someone calls you to install this product and charge you for it, so beware and don’t be caught out.

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