14 DAY TRIAL // Tech support scams for mobile devices are beginning to become more prevalent, Android being the most targeted platform; but some perpetrators recycle content from previous schemes and adapt it to fit the new operating system.
In their rush to release the scam in the wild, it happens sometimes that the scammers leave some dead giveaways slip through, giving the potential victim a chance to catch on the deceit attempt.
“Inernet Explorer” is slow on Android
One example has been caught by Jerome Segura from Malwarebytes, who found a web page indicating the visitor that there was a problem with their Android device and offering assistance over the phone.
Apart from the grammar mistakes raising suspicions, a clear sign of the bogus support was the fact that the page indicated a slow running Internet Explorer as a symptom for problems with the Android device.
With the Android logo plastered at the top of the page, the warning began with describing the potential issue:
“If you are facing a slow Inernet Explorer there may be many reasons. Your Operating System may be outdated, too many processes could be running, several apps could be launching at startup or then Inernet Explorer’s memory might be severely fragmented. There is also a high risk of malware or Android virus’s.”
From the rest of the fake warning, it is clear that the scammers simply replaced any “Windows” reference with “Android.”
It goes without saying that there is no Internet Explorer app developed for Android; currently web developers have the possibility to test their websites on IE even if they do not have a Windows machine to complete the task.
“Spot the scam” game is easy in this case
A list of symptoms that require tech assistance is provided, which includes advertisements popping up, fast battery drainage, overall slow performance of the phone, or accidental installation of untrusted apps.
These are issues most of the users deal with on an daily basis, not necessarily because of malware infection but on account of the fact that the device is old or that a large number of apps are running in the background; oftentimes a restart would improve performance.
Most of the times, users land on these fake support pages by clicking on ads or by being redirected from legitimate locations that have been compromised.
Checking the text for grammar errors is a good way to spot a scam, because in a large number of cases the perpetrators are not native English speakers.
Android Scam #fail #TechSupportScams pic.twitter.com/4mfOVSRcYJ
— Jérôme Segura (@jeromesegura) January 6, 2015