14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft tech support scammers have been around for a while, but it turns out that things are getting nastier and more serious every day, so those who call you and pretend to be working for the software giant might actually go as far as to threaten to kill you.
This is what happened to Jakob Dulisse from British Columbia, who recently received a phone call from what appeared to be a Microsoft phone support scammer.
After the typical conversation where the scammer tells the potential victim that they have malware on their computer and they need to pay a small fee to get rid of it, it all took an unexpected turn.
Dulisse was secretly recording the conversation, and after questioning the scammer about the malware that he has in his computer, he attempted to reveal the real identity of the phone caller. That was the moment when the scammer stopped being friendly.
“You know what we do to Anglo people in India?”
According to CBC, the caller became irritated, and after having admitted that he was calling from India, he started threatening the potential victim in another attempt to get access to his computer.
“If you come to India, you know what we do to Anglo people? We cut them up in little pieces and throw them in the river,” he said.
Dulisse still refused to let him access his PC, knowing that the whole phone call was recorded, so the threatening continued. The scammer told Dulisse his full name and address and said that he would send someone at this home to kill him.
“He was actually threatening me as a tactic,” Dulisse explained.
Just like in all the other similar cases, it's nearly impossible to find the phone caller and arrest him, as scammers refuse to provide any kind of information about themselves and usually pretend to be working for Microsoft or an affiliated company.
What to do when receiving such a phone call
Basically, most people think that recording the conversation and handing it over to the police is the best way to handle such a phone call, but in most of the cases, it doesn't really help, mostly because authorities still can't track these scammers down.
Microsoft has already explained that it would never call anyone and offer such services, so the best choice in this case is to simply hang up. Do not try to talk to the scammer, do not ask any questions, just hang up and you should be safe.
As you can see, they're becoming more aggressive every day and a death threat is something that some people might not be able to handle very well. So think twice before trying to play the detective on the phone.