14 DAY TRIAL // Some cybercriminals aren't patient enough to wait for fake antiviruses and money-stealing malware to do their duty, so they pick up the phone and start calling potential victims, pretending to represent the “Tech department of Windows.”
Internet Storm Center researcher Daniel Wesemann informs that the old “Microsoft tech support” phone scam is still making rounds.
Apparently, the crooks ask the victim to open an event viewer to check for errors. Once the errors appear, the so-called techie starts to exaggerate their effects, even if issues are small.
The next step is to convince the unsuspecting user to open a site called ammyy.com, or any other site that offers similar software, and download a remote desktop app which the fraudsters use to connect to the computer.
The remote management app may be legitimate, but what the con artists do with it is not.
So, whether you are asked to install pieces of software, or requested to provide credit card information over the phone, treat everything with maximum suspicion, because most likely you are targeted by cybercrooks.
Note. My Twitter account has been erroneously suspended. While this is sorted out, you can contact me via my author profile.