The investigation was started nearly two years ago

Jun 29, 2017 09:19 GMT  ·  By
Phone scams are responsible for losses of 20 million pounds last year in the UK
   Phone scams are responsible for losses of 20 million pounds last year in the UK

Four people were arrested in the United Kingdom for participating in a global phone scam network whose purpose was to trick people into paying them for fake computer repairs performed on behalf of Microsoft.

Phone scams are nothing new, but it turns out that it still makes thousands of victims across the world, with the London Police saying that last year alone, there were 34,504 fraud reports to the Action Fraud, with generated losses totaling more than 20 million pounds.

The investigation in this case started nearly 2 years ago, when Microsoft discovered the phone scammers and tried to track them down. The London Police arrested four people, two from Woking and two from South Shields, on suspicion of fraud.

Phone callers based in India

They were part of a phone scam based in India, where callers were working with scripts to convince Microsoft users to pay for repairs that weren’t needed. In some cases, the scammers themselves infected computers to require further repairs, pretending to be working for Microsoft and recommending unnecessary fixes.

The police say that the average age of phone scam victims is 62, and the average fee they pay to callers who pretend to be working for Microsoft is 600 pounds (nearly $780).

“We’d also like to reassure all users of Microsoft software that we will never cold call you out of the blue or use tech support pop ups on websites, Scammers can be extremely convincing, but if you think you have been contacted by them, please visit our website for guidance or get in touch with us directly through our contact page,” Hugh Milward, Director, Corporate, External and Legal Affairs, Microsoft UK, said.

Microsoft emphasizes that it never requires customers to provide credit card information or personal identifying details, pointing out that whenever someone believes they become a victim of phone scammers, they are recommended to contact authorities as soon as possible.