Redmond starts legal action against Indian company

Dec 31, 2014 09:30 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has recently sued a US-based company for offering fake tech support services and even installing rogue software on perfectly fine computers using its name, and it turns out that similar efforts are now taking place across the entire world.

This time, Redmond is launching legal action against an Indian company called C-Cubed which allegedly “used and misused the Microsoft name and its registered trademarks without authorization in connection with the provision of phone technical support services,” as India Times writes.

“Many of these technical support companies are able to gain victims’ trust by claiming they work for Microsoft, are a Microsoft Certified Partner or somehow affiliated with Microsoft,” Microsoft said in a statement detailing the way these companies work.

“In some instances, once the tech scammer gains remote access to a consumer’s computer, they will use scare tactics — telling the consumer that if they do not pay for support services they will lose all of their files, suffer a computer crash, or risk the leak of personal identifiable information.”

How tech scammers try to trick you into paying for fake services

Basically, phone tech scammers are calling victims across the world and claim to be working for Microsoft or a company that collaborates with Microsoft in order to address a number of problems.

In most cases, the scammer asks the victim to provide remote access to their computer and once he gets it, he deploys rogue software that simulates malware infections and other technical problems.

Basically, in order to fix all these issues, the scammer asks for a small fee, which most of the victims agree to pay thinking that they're actually getting a service provided by Microsoft.

In many cases, the scammer also installs real malware that allows him to return at a later time and ask for a new fee in order to clean the local drives.

As usual, Microsoft recommends everyone to hang up on people offering tech support by phone and to never pay for services that are provided through remote control and in exchange for a fee.