14 DAY TRIAL // A new attempt made by hackers to scare people relies on using Skype voice calls to alert random members that their computer is unprotected.
After each article about spammers and fake anti-virus, I think “This is probably it! They've used up all their techniques and probably nothing new will take us by surprise.”
It is clear that I am wrong. This time, Skype automated calls are made to random customers. They are alerted that their devices are unprotected and in order to solve the issue they should visit a certain website mentioned in the audio recording.
The voice in the message is generated by a well-known text reader application and after it recites the message "Attention: this is an automated computer system alert. Your computer protection service is not active. To activate computer protection, and repair your computer, go to [LINK]," it hangs up.
Graham Cluley, who informed us of the scam, visited the link mentioned in the video to see what would happen to the victims.
The website actually does a fake scan of your system and, after the whole thing is done, you are informed that your machine is unprotected.
As all scarware programs work, this one also informs you that they can provide the necessary solution in return for a small amount of money and some personal information.
Even if you don't trust such things and you refuse to pay the sum for the alleged repair, even if you only give out your email address, you can be certain that you'll be bombarded with spam messages and maybe even pieces of malware that will further phish for sensitive data.
The Sophos technology consultant advises that “if you don't want to receive unsolicited Skype calls the best thing to do is change your privacy settings so only users listed in your contacts list are allowed to get in touch with you. “